Jane Swift the Former Massachusetts Governor is New E@W Leader
The former Massachusetts Governor begins her first day as Education at Work’s President leading this unique nonprofit that connects companies with tomorrow’s talent and college students with valuable real-world work experience.
After nearly two decades as an executive, advisor and company builder working at the intersection of learning and economic opportunity, Jane Swift takes on her new role. She most recently served as an operating partner at the private investment firm Vistria Group, and as the president of LearnLaunch, a national nonprofit education accelerator focused on improving collaboration between policymakers, practitioners, and the technology sector. Swift previously served as CEO of Middlebury Interactive Languages, an education startup launched in partnership with Middlebury College.
Swift takes the helm of Education at Work, an organization that over the past decade has built a series of effective campus-based partnerships with multiple major public flagship universities—including Arizona State University, Northern Kentucky University, the University of Texas, El Paso and the University of Utah. “As a former Pell Grant recipient and work-study student, I know firsthand what it’s like to have to earn your way through college. But I also know that our educational system was never designed to make college and work compatible,” said Swift.
“I’m on a mission to show business leaders that college students represent not just tomorrow’s talent, but skills and expertise that matter today. This is about creating real, meaningful work experiences that not only help to make college more affordable but offer a springboard to graduates as they launch their careers.”
Nationally, an estimated 600,000 college students participate in the Federal Work Study program, often in on-campus jobs. By partnering with both colleges and Fortune 500 companies, including Discover Financial Services and Fidelity, Education at Work enables college students to gain valuable, real-world experience while earning significant hourly wages and up to $5,250 in tuition assistance annually to offset the cost of college.
Since its inception in 2012, Education at Work has awarded over $100 million in combined wages and tuition assistance to nearly 8,100 students nationwide. Participating students are 25% more likely to graduate from their institution and to do so with 40% less student debt in comparison to their institutional peers. 75% of the participating students identify as students of color and 50% are first generation college graduates. Education at Work graduates reported salaries that were, on average, more than 10 percent higher than the average annual salary for adults with only a high school diploma —and also significantly higher than similar college graduates that did not participate in the program.
A longtime advocate for excellence in education, Swift was recently appointed by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona as a member of the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), otherwise known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” She has also lectured and held fellowships at a variety of universities, including Boston College School of Law and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and served as the co-chair of the selection committee for the 2023 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.
“From her time in public service to her dynamic corporate career, Jane has earned a well-deserved reputation for a common-sense—and effective—brand of leadership,” said Tom Dawson, president of Strada Collaborative, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that is the corporate parent of Education at Work.