LeVine, Suzan Gail, 1969-

<p>The U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Lichtenstein from May 2014 to January 2017 was Suzan LeVine, whose posting to Bern was a reward for her fundraising for President Barack Obama. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, between 2008 and 2012, LeVine donated $432,251 to Democratic candidates and organizations, gave $18,840 to Obama’s re-election campaign, and “bundled” at least $500,000 in donations from others. The New York Times reported in September 2012 that LeVine had raised at least $2.3 million for Obama’s campaigns since 2007.</p>

<p>Suzan Gail (Davidson) LeVine was born November 17, 1969, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Maurice Davidson, a doctor who had served in Vietnam, and Phyllis (Fox) Davidson, whose father, Phillip Fox, was a co-founder of the American Legion. She has two brothers, Philip and Samuel, and one sister, Hanna Fox. She graduated Atlantic City High School in 1987, and earned dual degrees at Brown University in 1993: a B.A. in English and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with aerospace applications.</p>

<p>Relocating to Seattle after graduation, LeVine began what she likes to call her “non-linear career” as a product manager for Microsoft from 1993 to 1998, where she worked on launching the final versions of MS-DOS and Windows 95.</p>

<p>From 1998 to 2005, LeVine worked for Expedia, Inc., first as a director of marketing and then as the vice president of marketing and sales for the luxury travel division.</p>

<p>From March 2006 to January 2014, she served as the co-founder and then chair of the advisory board for the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (I-LABS) at the University of Washington, which is a leading early learning research institute.</p>

<p>For three of her years at I-LABS, 2009 to 2012, LeVine also worked at Microsoft as director of strategic partnerships for student developers and director of communications for education, working with students, school leaders, and educators to promote the advantages of teaching tech skills using Microsoft products.</p>

<p>During her term as ambassador, LeVine became interested in the Swiss dual education system, which emphasizes vocational apprenticeships for many students, and began advocating its adaptation to the U.S. Since resigning her post, LeVine has continued to advance that agenda by joining several relevant organizations: the Career Connect Washington Task Force, the board of CareerWise Colorado, the Seattle Region Partnership, and the board of the Center on the Economics and Management of Education and Training Systems in Zurich.</p>

<p>LeVine has been involved in various social and community initiatives, including co-founding the Kavana Cooperative, an independent Jewish community in Seattle. She has also been active with Hillel at the University of Washington, serving in various capacities, including board chair from July 2009 to June 2011, from 2000 to 2014.</p>

<p>Suzi LeVine and her husband, Eric LeVine, who founded CellarTracker, an online website for those who own wine-cellars, live in Seattle. They have two children, Sidney and Talia.</p>

<p>Suzan Gail LeVine (born November 17, 1969) was sworn in as the United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein on May 30, 2014 and took up her position in Bern on June 2, 2014. Reflecting her work in technology, LeVine took her oath of office while placing a hand on a Kindle containing the U.S. Constitution and, thereby, became the first U.S. official to be sworn in on an e-reader. She resigned her post in Bern on January 20, 2017. On July 9, 2018, she joined Governor Jay Inslee's cabinet as the new Washington State Commissioner for the Employment Security Department.</p>

<p>Born near Philadelphia, LeVine grew up in Ventnor, New Jersey. In 1993, she earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering with aerospace applications and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Brown University. She also received an Honorary Degree from EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, in October 2017.</p>

<p>Her career started in technology with college summer internships at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Carnegie Mellon's Data Storage System's Center. She then started her first full-time job working on operating systems at Microsoft in 1993 where she worked on MS-DOS and then helped launch Windows 95. She ran communications for the Expedia IPO and stayed with Expedia until 2005, becoming Vice President of Sales & Marketing in the Luxury Travel Division. In 2009, she went back to Microsoft and focused on education until 2012.</p>

<p>LeVine served as the United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein from June 2014 until January 2017 during which time she expanded foreign direct investment (FDI) into the U.S., helped counter violent extremism, enabled American citizens in Switzerland to regain access to banking services, and advanced the global diversity dialogue. She also championed female participation in entrepreneurship and technical fields, supporting women in both corporations and universities.</p>

<p>While in Switzerland, she was instrumental in the signing of a Joint Declaration of Intent between Switzerland and the United States to collaborate on apprenticeship[18] and partnered with 30 companies to bring and/or expand their Swiss style apprenticeship model into the United States.[19] She also secured billions of dollars in investment and hundreds of jobs into the United States[20] – with $3B alone announced at a special White House round table she catalyzed with Swiss business and government leaders.</p>

<p>During their time in Switzerland, Ambassador LeVine and her husband, Eric LeVine, hosted a number of visitors from the United States to view the Swiss system. Most notable was a delegation from Colorado led by Governor John Hickenlooper. This helped her understand the appeal and applicability of the Swiss system in the United States which she wrote about in The Ambassadors Review and the Commerce Department Blog.</p>

<p>Since returning from Switzerland, LeVine and her husband have been speaking across the U.S. and around the globe at events, round-tables, and with individuals in government, academia, business, and philanthropy about what can be learned, derived, and applied from the Swiss dual education system. She and her husband are convinced that there are many pathways to success, and that an "Apprenticeship Renaissance," as she calls it, is a key to the long-term economic growth in the United States and a key to more people than ever achieving their American Dream. She shared these insights at a presentation at EPFL in October, 2017.</p>

<p>She now serves on the CareerWise Colorado board, the Markle Foundation's Rework America Task Force, ETH's CEMETS International Advisory Board, and the Seattle Region Partnership. She also served on Governor Inslee's Career Connect Taskforce which completed its work and made its recommendations February 20, 2018.</p>

<p>LeVine has volunteered as a community organizer and resource raiser for several Democratic campaigns, most notably, for Obama for America. She currently serves as a Deputy National Finance Chair for the DNC and as an Advisory Council Member for the NDRC (National Democratic Redistricting Council).</p>

<p>She won the Microsoft Alumni Foundation "Beacon Award" in 2013 for community leadership and inspiration, the Helen M. Jackson "Woman of Valor" award in 2008, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle Spitzer Young Leadership award in 2007. In 2012, she was awarded a Wexner Fellowship for her leadership in the Seattle Jewish community.</p>

<p>She and her husband, Eric LeVine, CEO of CellarTracker, have two children, Sidney and Talia LeVine, with whom they enjoy hiking, biking, traveling and playing with their two dogs, Vegas and Gurtie.</p>

<p>Suzan “Suzi” LeVine was sworn in as the United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein on May 30, 2014. She took up her position in Bern on June 2, 2014.</p>

<p>Prior to joining the U.S. Government, Suzi focused on education in both her professional and volunteer life. From 2006-2013, she served as the co-founder and then chairperson of the advisory board for the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (I-LABS) at the University of Washington – one of the world’s leading early learning research institutes. From 2009-2012, Suzi worked at Microsoft Corporation as Director of Strategic Partnerships for Student Developers and Director of Communications for Education. In these roles, she worked with innovative students, school leaders and educators from around the world, helped promote the importance of teaching 21st century skills, and managed relationships with other organizations dedicated to student inspiration and success.</p>

<p>Suzi’s early career centered on software and the Internet. From 1993-1998, she worked as a Product Manager for Microsoft where she helped launch the final versions of MS-DOS and Windows 95. With Expedia, Inc. from 1998-2005, she worked as a Director of Marketing through the startup’s IPO and then as the Vice President of Marketing and Sales for the luxury travel division.</p>

<p>In addition, Suzi has been involved throughout her life in social innovation and community organizing. Among other initiatives, she co-founded The Kavana Cooperative, an independent and nationally-recognized Jewish community in Seattle, and participates in Social Venture Partners, which cultivates effective philanthropists and strengthens organizations driving community change. She won the Microsoft Alumni Foundation “Beacon Award” in 2013 for community leadership and inspiration, the Helen M. Jackson “Woman of Valor” award in 2008, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle Spitzer Young Leadership award in 2007. In 2012, she was awarded a Wexner Fellowship for her leadership in the Seattle Jewish community.</p>

<p>Suzi is a graduate of Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering with aerospace applications.</p>