Rob Schneider has been Executive Director of The Lemelson Foundation since 2021. With a breadth and depth of experience that includes government, nonprofit, and private sectors, Rob is well-positioned to lead the world’s leading philanthropic organization with a mission “to improve lives through invention” — through the creation of products that have positive social impact, reflect environmental responsibility and lead to financially self-sustaining businesses.
Rob joined the Foundation in 2018 as Senior Director of Strategy, where he managed the program officer team and led strategy development for the Foundation. Previously, he served at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where he led the agency’s public-private partnership and impact investing efforts. He also created and managed the Partnering to Accelerate Entrepreneurship (PACE) initiative to support local entrepreneurs around the world.
Prior to his government service, Rob served in a variety of engineering capacities in the manufacturing and telecommunications sectors, where he led engineering and product development teams, and managed nationwide infrastructure procurement programs.
Rob has an MBA and a Master of Urban Planning from the University of Michigan, and a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. On weekends, you will find Rob and his wife enjoying the beauty of Oregon as seen from the sidelines of their teenage sons’ soccer games.
