Gerry O'Keefe was appointed the Executive Director of the Puget Sound Partnership by Governor Gregoire on February 11, 2011 after serving as the Partnership's Deputy Director since April of 2010.  Prior to coming to the Partnership, he was the Natural Resources Director for the Grant County Public Utility District with responsibility for a $1 billion environmental mitigation program required under the FERC license issued to the electric utility.  In 2007, Mr. O'Keefe led the Governor's effort to establish a water supply program in Eastern Washington, breaking the gridlock between historically antagonistic interests.  The legislature enacted the program and appropriated $200 million to launch it.   In 2008, he negotiated agreements with the federal government, the Colville Tribes and the Spokane Tribe to provide the first new water supplies from the Columbia River in over 30 years.  Gerry was raised in Minnesota, relocating to Seattle to attend the University of Washington where he earned his MBA in 1987.