Robert McDonald is taking his leadership skills to the Partnership for Public Service.
The former Secretary of Veterans Affairs — who helmed the agency and its reform efforts following a patient wait-time scandal — has been elected the nonprofit's board of directors.
"I am deeply honored to join its diverse and experienced board of directors, and I look forward to working with the Partnership to help improve how our federal government operates and serves the American people," McDonald said in a statement.
A former CEO of Proctor & Gamble, McDonald accepted President Obama's offer to become Secretary of Veteran's Affairs in 2014 after the agency was rocked by a series of scandals centering on veteran health care and the wait times at VA facilities.
McDonald — who asked people to call him "Secretary Bob" — instituted several initiatives such as increasing salaries for medical professionals to close the pay gap with the private sector, promoted veteran recruiting for jobs and made efforts to implement reforms to make it easier to discipline of fire VA employees.
Some of those efforts were stymied, first by the appeals process of the Merit Systems Protection Board — a quasi-judicial backstop meant to adjudicate civil service disputes — and then by court battles to challenge McDonald’s reform efforts and powers granted by the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014.
McDonald was instrumental in the discussions with senators to craft the Veterans First Act of 2016, an omnibus reform package introduced in the Senate last year.
Partnership President and CEO Max Stier applauded the move, saying in a statement that his experience would be an asset to the organization, which research best practices and new methods of efficient government.
"Bob McDonald brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from both the public and private sectors to help advance the Partnership’s mission of making the federal government more effective for the American people. We are honored that he is joining our board of directors."
