Philip Gaskin

Philip Gaskin is strategic advisor to the Office of the President and CEO, and Executive Fellow, where he is responsible for advising on the Kauffman Foundation’s local and national efforts to build an economy that works for all people by making entrepreneurship an integral component of economic mobility and development policies, practices, and programs.
As a leader with deep expertise in working cross-sector to implement strategies that change conditions in communities of all types, Gaskin provides the vision, strategic thinking, and thought leadership to support the impact of the Foundation’s work, which aims to eliminate systemic barriers through access to capital, ecosystems, entrepreneurial learning, policy, and research. The overall focus is to promote pragmatic strategies that bring about authentic systems change to realize the fullest form of economic inclusion, interdependence, and open prosperity to motivate economic mobility for all.
Gaskin previously served as Vice President, Entrepreneurship where he formulated and led the Foundation’s entire Kansas City and national entrepreneurship portfolio and $50M+ budget – including grantmaking, operating programs, community engagement, research, policy, entrepreneur learning and support, and capital access. As the face of entrepreneurship and economic development for the nation, Gaskin led program staff to achieve impact with cross-Foundation strategic vision and programmatic platforms at a local and national scale.
Prior to joining the Kauffman Foundation, Gaskin was chief operating officer for Impact Hub in the U.S., where he led organization-wide initiatives to develop and scale a social innovation marketplace to support entrepreneurs and impact investors to build sustainable businesses that drive long-term social and environmental change. He served as lead partner to Impact Hub’s global association to promote interorganizational alignment, shape global business strategy, and advance strategic efforts in developing regions of the world – including Africa and Latin America.
Previously, Gaskin served in various campaign positions for national candidates, including Cory Booker for U.S. Senate and President Barack Obama, directing efforts in Pennsylvania for Obama for America. In leading the grassroots operations, Gaskin built, scaled, and activated teams of staff and volunteers of all ages who delivered historic results by aligning community, city, state, and federal leaders to support policy initiatives.
Earlier, Gaskin held private sector executive leadership roles with leading global firms providing strategic enterprise and travel management consulting to Fortune 50 companies. Gaskin served as senior vice president for multinational business strategy and solutions where he led global operations, customer strategy, account and contract management, technology, human resources, finance, and business development teams across 35 countries for a standalone, 400-person business unit representing $1B in revenues. Gaskin led the industry’s first global service marketplace, an automated follow-the-sun service delivery platform providing real-time service solutions to thousands of customer employees in over 30 countries. Gaskin also provided executive leadership for the firm’s global entertainment and media business unit providing enterprise consulting, high-touch services, and production logistics to the majority of music and motion picture studios across the globe.
A native of Los Angeles, Gaskin attended Pennsylvania State University and graduated from California State University with a Bachelor of Science in marketing.