REPORT FOR THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
SUBJECT: Ambassadorial Nomination: Certificate of Demonstrated Competence — Foreign Service Act, Section 304(a)(4)
POST: European Union
CANDIDATE: Gordon David Sondland
Gordon David Sondland is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aspen Lodging Group, LLC, d.b.a. Provenance Hotels, in Portland, Oregon. Provenance Hotels is a billion-dollar national hospitality business with nearly 1,000 employees and operates in a geographically and culturally diverse environment in the United States. As a prominent American businessman who has started and managed large enterprises for over three decades, Mr. Sondland has demonstrated a strong background in markets and economics, high-level management and negotiation abilities and acumen in problem-solving. As the Senior Republican advisor to a Democratic Governor in Oregon, Mr. Sondland played a key role in bridging the political divide and creating a strong partnership and working relationship between the Republican White House and Governor’s Office. As an active participant in the public arena, he has a keen awareness of the workings of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government.
Prior to establishing the Aspen Lodging Group, for almost 15 years Mr. Sondland managed the investment fund, The Aspen Group, on behalf of partners who invested in hospitality and other real estate-related assets. He has served on the Advisory Board of US Bancorp for more than a decade. Committed to volunteer service, he founded and served as President of a large charitable foundation and served as volunteer Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Portland Art Museum. He has endowed scholarship funds and capital improvements for the Portland Art Museum, Duke University, Oregon Health & Sciences University and YMCA Camp Collins.
Mr. Sondland attended the University of Washington in Seattle, and has maintained an Airline Transport Pilot License since 1978. He has received numerous awards for his contributions to the community and to his profession.