[11] After leaving city hall, Gaspard became an aide and advisor to Lower East Side councilwoman Margarita Lopez.

Then-Public Advocate de Blasio personally thanked him in his primary victory speech, one of the few non-family members mentioned.

[22] It was leaked in March 2013 that President Obama was planning to nominate Gaspard to the post of United States Ambassador to South Africa.

[27] During his tenure, Gaspard worked to connect South African entrepreneurs to United States markets; develop clean, renewable, and efficient energy technologies; and to end wildlife trafficking.

[28] Gaspard has been credited with helping the Obama Administration redesign PEPFAR to more efficiently work within South Africa's healthcare system.

[30] Gaspard served in this capacity until December 2020, when he was replaced by Mark Malloch Brown, a British Lord, Baron, and diplomat.

[33] On June 30, 2021, liberal think tank Center for American Progress (CAP) announced that Gaspard would become its President and CEO, replacing Neera Tanden who left to become an advisor to Joe Biden.

[35] In May 2024, Gaspard forcefully defended the right of United States university students to protest the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza under the Israel–Hamas war.

The pair met while working on David Dinkins' 1989 mayoral campaign,[42] and bonded over their shared progressive political views and familial ties to the Caribbean: Gaspard's parents are from Haiti.