Ambassador Gaddi H. Vasquez
Edison International & So Cal Edison (Ret.)
Gaddi H. Vasquez has served as senior vice president of government affairs for Edison International and Southern California Edison, one of the nation’s largest investor-owned utilities. He led and managed the company’s government relations and legislative activities at the federal and state level, as well as local public affairs.
He is the descendant of a migrant working family and was the first in his family to earn a college degree. Vasquez has spent most of his life in Orange County and has been a leader in promoting health, safety, and educational opportunities for children and youth in underserved communities at home and abroad.
In 2006, Vasquez was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate as U.S. Ambassador and permanent representative to United Nations Agencies based in Rome, Italy. In Rome, he managed a U.S. multi-agency team responsible for oversight of U.N. Organizations.
From 2002-2006, Ambassador Vasquez served as Director of the United States Peace Corps where he led the international volunteer service organization with volunteers and staff serving in 78 countries. He successfully led the establishment of the first Peace Corps program in Mexico and introduced the Peace Corps’ first program associated with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and Global AIDS Relief.
Vasquez has served on the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships and has been appointed by three California Governors to state boards and commissions.
He currently serves on the boards of the Public Policy Institute of California, the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts, the Aspen Institute – Latinos and Society program, the California State University Foundation Board of Governors, the University of California, Irvine Foundation Board of Trustees, and the Board of Trustees of Chapman University.
Ambassador Vasquez has been awarded the Globe and Anchor Award by the Marine Corps Scholarship Fund, and the Tree of Life Award by the Jewish National Fund. In 2014, he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and in 2016, he was recognized by the Constitutional Rights Foundation with the organization’s Bill of Rights Award. In 2019, he was the recipient of the Pat Brown Institute Global Leadership Award.
He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in public service management from the University of Redlands and has been awarded five honorary doctorate degrees.
