The Hon. Gary F. Locke is on the Board of Governors at RIDGE-LANE LP.
Locke was the U.S. Ambassador to China, where he worked to open markets for U.S.-made goods and services, and was instrumental in impactful policy around trade, regulation, and cross-border investment at the local, state, national, and international levels.
Locke served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce, where led the effort to implement President Obama's National Export Initiative to double American exports in five years; he assumed a troubled 2010 Census process, which, under his active supervision ended on time and substantially under budget, saving taxpayers $2 billion; and he achieved the most significant reduction in patent application processing time in the agency's history: from 40-months, down to one year. Gov. Locke also oversaw a significant first step in the president’s export control reform effort that strengthened national security, while making U.S. companies more competitive by easing their licensing burden for high-tech exports to partners and allies.
Locke served as Governor of the State of Washington, for two-terms, where he fostered robust and constructive economic relations between China and the state of Washington. He helped open doors for Washington businesses by leading 10 productive trade missions to Asia, Mexico, and Europe, significantly expanding the sale of Washington products and services. His efforts are credited with helping to more than double the state's exports to China to over $5 billion per year.
During Locke’s tenure in Olympia, he achieved bipartisan welfare reform and oversaw the gain of 280,000 private sector jobs, despite two national recessions. Gov. Locke’s accomplishments, management skills, and innovations in government efficiency have won him acclaim by nationally recognized authors and organizations, including Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. During his time in office, Washington was ranked as one of the four best managed states in America.
Prior to, he served as a Member of the Washington State House of Representatives, as King County Executive, and as King County Deputy Prosecutor. He is a Member of The Committee of 100: a national non-partisan organization composed of American citizens of Chinese descent who have achieved positions of leadership in the U.S. in a broad range of professions. Gov. Locke attended Yale University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in political science, and his law degree from Boston University.
