Patricia Q. Stonesifer (born 1956) is an American executive. From June 2023 to January 2024, she was the interim CEO of The Washington Post and is on the board of Amazon. She began her career in various executive roles at Microsoft before becoming the founding CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She previously was the president and CEO of Martha's Table, a Washington D.C.–based non-profit that provides community-based solutions to poverty.
Early life and education
Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Stonesifer is the sixth of nine children in a Roman Catholic family. Her father, Bill Quigley, was a car salesman and her mother was a physical therapist. Volunteering was a core value of her family and childhood; in addition to the nine children, the family hosted foster children for "a significant part of the time that I was growing up".
Career
Technology
Stonesifer spent two decades working at for-profit technology companies as a consultant to DreamWorks SKG and at Microsoft in various vice president positions. She began her tenure at Microsoft in 1988 running its Canadian division before being promoted to vice president and revamping Microsoft's Product Support operations. Later she oversaw the Consumer Products Group and served as senior vice president of the Interactive Media Division. By the time she left Microsoft in 1997, which later merged with the William H. Gates Foundation in 2000. She was its CEO from 2006 to 2008 and President and co-chair from 1997 to 2006. Even after she stepped down, she continued her involvement as senior advisor until January 2012.
Personal life
Stonesifer has received honorary degrees from Tufts University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Trinity University, and American University, in addition to her alma mater.
She is married to Michael Kinsley, a political columnist and founding editor of the Microsoft-funded online journal Slate. She has two children, a son and a daughter, from a previous marriage, as well as two grandchildren.