Nate Tibbits
Nate Tibbits
Senior Vice President,
Global Government Affairs and Public Affairs
Qualcomm Incorporated
Nate Tibbits is senior vice president of Global Government Affairs and Public Affairs for Qualcomm Incorporated,
a leader in wireless technology. He leads a worldwide team with responsibility for the company’s public policy
agenda and regulatory engagement on a range of priorities. Tibbits also directs teams driving Qualcomm’s
corporate responsibility initiatives on sustainability, STEM (science, technology, engineering & mathematics)
education and the use of mobile technology for social and economic development, including the Thinkabit Lab
and Wireless Reach programs. Prior to this role, he led Qualcomm’s Washington D.C. office, where he focused
on trade, immigration reform and intellectual property protection.
Immediately prior to joining Qualcomm, Tibbits ran Blackwood Advisory, a boutique strategy firm, and was the
Chair for the U.S. Public Affairs practice at Burson-Marsteller, where he worked with energy, technology, finance
and defense clients. From 2009 to 2011, Tibbits served at the White House, where he was Executive Secretary
of the National Security Council (NSC), supporting President Obama and his national security team in formulating
national security policy. As Special Assistant to President Obama for Presidential Personnel, he worked on
candidate identification and selection for more than 1,000 presidential appointments.
Earlier in his career, Tibbits was the founding Chief Operating Officer for the Center for a New American Security,
a national security think tank. He was also Vice President for International Education at Discovery
Communications, where he managed a digital content business unit with distribution in 60 countries. Before
joining Discovery, Tibbits worked at The Albright Group, a consulting firm advising Fortune 100 clients on a range
of international policy and public affairs matters, and at the National Democratic Institute for International
Affairs. At NDI, Tibbits managed international election observations and established new offices in Africa, Latin
America and the Middle East. He began his career managing events for the City of Asheville in North Carolina.
A graduate of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Tibbits also holds an MBA from the University of
Maryland in College Park. He currently serves on the UNC Honors Program DC Advisory Board and the University
of Maryland’s Information School Advisory Board. Tibbits also serves on the Board of Directors the Information
Technology & Innovation Foundation, the U.S. ASEAN Business Council and the Qualcomm Foundation, as well
as on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s C_Tec Advisory Board and the Executive Committee of the Information
Technology Industry Council.