Needham Partners specializes in creating and managing high-impact, purposeful initiatives that engage and connect influential people across business, government, philanthropy, sports, media, and entertainment. Needham Partners draws on both internal resources and a network of global affiliates with expertise in all aspects of high-level event development and execution.
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
John S. Needham, President
John Needham is the founder and president of Needham Partners, a New York-based firm that specializes in creating and managing high-impact, purposeful initiatives that engage and connect influential people across business, government, philanthropy, sports, media, and entertainment on a global basis.
John has worked for some three decades with the highest levels of business and government. In 2005, President William J. Clinton named him as the first CEO of the Clinton Global Initiative. Over the next two years, Needham helped to build CGI into one of the world's most influential membership organizations, focused on addressing global challenges, including poverty, climate change, education, and global health.
He was previously the founder and president of Fortune Multi-media, where he was responsible for integrated media opportunities at Fortune magazine, including live events and conferences, television, and integrated programs. In 16 years with Fortune, John developed and directed a wide range of senior executive initiatives, including the Fortune Global Forum, Fortune Brainstorm, the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, and the Fortune 500 Boardroom series.
John has unique and extensive experience in China. In the late nineties, he opened Fortune's first office in Shanghai, where he led and directed the 1999 Fortune Global Forum coinciding with the PRC 50th anniversary. For this complex and exciting event, he worked closely with the offices of China's President, the State Council Information Office, and the Shanghai and Beijing Municipalities. He has subsequently led a wide range of China-based initiatives.
A graduate of Yale who completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, John is also engaged in non-profit activities with an emphasis on environmental issues.
President Clinton commended Needham in 2007 as follows:
“I want to thank you for your extraordinary contributions to the Clinton Foundation and to our world.The Clinton Global Initiative would not be the force that it is today without your tireless efforts and unwavering determination. Quite simply, we could not have done it without you. Throughout your time at CGI, you've drawn upon your unparalleled energy, experience, and expertise to share a wealth of wonderful ideas—and you have inspired many new ones as well. CGI began as something of an experiment, but guided by your leadership and wisdom, it soon gained acclaim that transcends geographic, political, and cultural boundaries. You represent the very finest in what we, as Americans, have to offer both domestically and abroad.”
Needham Partners Team
Needham Partners has a team of associates in the U.S. and on the ground in China, along with a worldwide affiliate network, with expertise in all aspects of high-level event development and execution, including program development,
speaker recruitment, editorial research, speechwriting and scripting, meeting planning, event production, marketing and audience recruitment, registration and reporting, graphics and design, and public relations.