Washington, D.C. – ONE, the bipartisan anti-poverty advocacy group, announced today that its Board of Directors has appointed Joshua Bolten, ONE board member and former White House Chief of Staff under President Bush, to serve as Interim CEO of ONE effective immediately. Mr. Bolten succeeds CEO David Lane, who is leaving the organization in order to accept a position in the White House as Assistant to the President and Counselor to the Chief of Staff.  Mr. Bolten has agreed to serve as Interim CEO while the ONE board conducts a formal search for a permanent successor to Mr. Lane.

“David Lane has been a brilliant CEO at ONE, steering the organization with deftness and determination through change and expansion. He’s astute, considered and calm.  His presence means a better night’s sleep for those who work with him. We’ll miss him, but he’ll be a great asset to the White House,” said Bono, ONE’s cofounder. “Josh Bolten has graciously agreed to step in; we’re looking forward to exploiting his huge brain and steady pair of hands.  Josh was instrumental in making gains in the fight against AIDS and extreme poverty while at the White House and commands huge respect across the political spectrum.”

With more than two million members around the world, ONE raises awareness about the crisis of extreme poverty and advocates for cost-effective solutions that are delivering real results measured in lives saved and communities stabilized in the poorest parts of the world. Thanks to effective investments by governments in the U.S. and Europe and African leadership, more than four million people in Africa are now on lifesaving AIDS medication and malaria deaths have been cut in half in countries across the continent.

“The struggle against extreme poverty is a crucial cause of our time – and, with smart policy, a winnable fight.  During my eight years in the White House, there was no more effective organization on these issues than the ONE Campaign.  That’s why, after I left government two years ago, I joined the board of ONE – and why I feel privileged today to have the short-term opportunity to contribute more actively. David Lane was a superb CEO, whose departure leaves a large hole; but, I’m looking forward to working with ONE’s outstanding leadership team in ensuring that ONE doesn’t miss a beat during this transition,” said Mr. Bolten.

Tom Freston, chairman of the ONE Board of Directors, has begun an aggressive search for a permanent successor to Mr. Lane.

“David Lane has grown ONE into a truly global campaign, operating on three continents and in seven countries. It is an effective advocacy machine for the world’s poor. David leaves behind an organization that, with Josh Bolten’s interim leadership, will continue to make gains in the fight against extreme poverty. ONE’s board is aggressively recruiting a permanent replacement for David,” said Mr. Freston.

In the next year, ONE will focus its advocacy efforts on advancing the power of vaccines to save four million children’s lives over the next five years, promoting transparency and good governance in order to create sustained economic growth, supporting programs to end mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and ensuring we fight hunger and malnutrition through smart, effective investments in agriculture.

Background on Joshua Bolten

Joshua Bolten is a Visiting Professor at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He served in the White House under President George W. Bush as Chief of Staff from 2006 to 2009, Director of the Office of Management and Budget from 2003 until 2006, and Deputy Chief of Staff from 2001 to 2003. His nearly 20 years in government service also includes positions at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, and the U.S. State Department. In the private sector, he worked at Goldman Sachs International in London, and O’Melveny & Myers in Washington, DC. Bolten received his undergraduate degree from Princeton in 1976 and his law degree from Stanford in 1980. In addition to serving on the board of ONE, he is Vice Chair of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and Co-Chair of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.