Peter Beard serves as Senior Vice President for Regional Workforce Development at the Greater Houston Partnership, the Houston region's principal business organization. He leads the Partnership’s UpSkill Houston initiative—a business led effort that engages more than 200 employers, educational institutions, community-based organizations, and the public workforce system. UpSkill Houston works to ensure that the region’s businesses have access to workers that have skills and credentials for advanced and technical careers and occupations that require education beyond a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree.  

Peter is active in various community and civic causes. He serves on the boards of directors for Gulf Coast Workforce Solutions, Artspace Projects (Minneapolis, MN), and Houston LISC’s Local Advisory Committee. Prior to the sale of its assets to Ascension Insurance, he served on the board of directors of Paula Financial. Peter is also a Talent Pipeline Management® faculty member and Fellow at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and is a senior fellow with the American Leadership Forum in Houston.  

Prior to joining Greater Houston Partnership, Peter served in executive roles at United Way Worldwide (Alexandria, VA) and the Fannie Mae Foundation (Washington, DC). Prior to Fannie Mae Foundation, he served as the general counsel at Habitat for Humanity International (Americus, GA), and was in private legal practice at Semmes, Bowen & Semmes (Baltimore, MD).  

Peter received his A.B. in economics from Davidson College in North Carolina and J.D. (magna cum laude) from Syracuse University College of Law in New York.