Bob Gobrecht
Bob Gobrecht joined Special Olympics North America as President & Managing Director in 2006 after serving as the CEO of Special Olympics Southern California for almost two years and as a corporate sponsorship consultant to SOI with IEG.
During his tenure, the Special Olympics North America Team and Programs have inaugurated Project UNIFY with the US Department of Education, two National Games and a steady increase in athletes, events and coaches. Special Olympics North American Programs currently generate revenue in excess of $157,000,000 and host over 18,000 events for its 734,000 athletes and participants.
Before joining Special Olympics, Gobrecht spent over twenty five years in the sports and entertainment business. He began his career with the Consumer Products Division of the Walt Disney Company in progressively responsible position over nine years. He next held key leadership roles as the President & CEO of Seattle Seafair and Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball Team. After leaving the Mariners Gobrecht opened a successful sports marketing consultancy with clients including Nintendo, the Los Angeles Angels, Budweiser, the Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Association, Blue Cross /Blue Shield, the University of Washington, Special Olympics and Florida Tourism. During this time he was also an Adjunct Professor in the Graduate School at California State University, Long Beach.
As a volunteer Gobrecht served in Western Samoa with the Peace Corps, was a Loaned Executive to United Way of Los Angeles and a member of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, He earned a BS and MBA from the University of Southern California. He is married to Christianne Gobrecht; the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Yale University and are the parents of two adult children. The Gobrecht’s live adjacent to the historic Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut.