Zoë Baird is president of the Markle Foundation, an organization that works to realize the potential of communications, media and information technology to improve the quality of life for all Americans. The Markle Foundation pursues its goals through a range of activities, including analysis, research, public information and the development of innovative media products and services. Markle creates and operates many of its own projects - using not only grants but also investments and strategic alliances with non-profits and businesses.

Ms. Baird was recently senior vice president and general counsel of Aetna Inc. She has also served as associate counsel to President Jimmy Carter, attorney in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice and law clerk to U.S. District Judge Albert Wollenberg in San Francisco. In 1993, President Clinton appointed her to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Ms. Baird founded and currently chairs the nonprofit organization Lawyers for Children America, which addresses the impact of violence on children.