Washington, D.C.—Brookings Institution President John R. Allen today announced the appointment of two senior executives: Ted Gayer has been named Executive Vice President of the Institution, a promotion from his current position as Vice President of Economic Studies, and Emily Horne will join Brookings as Vice President of Communications on July 9. Horne currently serves as Head of Global Policy Communications for Twitter and worked closely with General Allen on counter-ISIL efforts at the State Department.
“Leading Brookings is an incredible honor and an immense undertaking. With so much to accomplish, Ted and Emily are vital additions to the team. In Ted, I’ll have a deputy with deep institutional knowledge, an impressive scholarly record, and unimpeachable integrity,” said Allen. “We’ll rely on Emily’s exceptional talent and instincts to help me to communicate the strategy for the Institution. She was a proven teammate under the extraordinary conditions of the counter-ISIL campaign, and I look forward to her contributions at Brookings.”
Gayer has led the Economic Studies program since 2013, overseeing its management, research, and fundraising activities and was co-director from 2009-2013. He will remain a Senior Fellow in the program. Gayer succeeds Martin Indyk as EVP; Indyk rejoined Brookings’s Foreign Policy program in March as the John C. Whitehead Distinguished Fellow in International Diplomacy.
Horne currently oversees all media and communications on Twitter’s public policy engagement, including fighting violent extremist content online, supporting transparency and freedom of expression, and combating abuse and harassment. Prior to Twitter, Horne served on the National Security Council (NSC) as Assistant Press Secretary and Director for Strategic Communications, advising White House and other senior U.S. government officials on messaging, media relations, and crisis communications.
Horne will succeed David Nassar, Brookings’s current VP for Communications, who led the Institution’s digital transformation by making its content more accessible via social media, video, podcasts, and other platforms. “Brookings owes David Nassar a debt of gratitude for his dedication and service to this Institution,” said Allen. “Among his many contributions, David established relationships with new audiences and built a talented communications team to support these efforts. Emily will inherit a stronger operation because of his leadership.”