Jane Swift, the acting governor of Massachusetts from 2001 to 2003, is taking on a new role leading a national nonprofit.
Swift will be the next president of Education at Work, a nonprofit that connects students with flexible, paid employment opportunities. The nonprofit's goal is to help college students graduate with little to no debt while gaining career building skills.
“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,” Swift said in a statement. "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.”
In her political career, Swift served in the Massachusetts Senate, as Secretary of Consumer Affairs of Massachusetts and as lieutenant governor before stepping in as governor when Gov. Paul Cellucci was appointed U.S. ambassador to Canada.
More recently, Swift served as an operating partner at the private investment firm Vistria Group. She was also the president of LearnLaunch, a national nonprofit education accelerator, and CEO of Middlebury Interactive Languages, an education startup launched in partnership with Middlebury College.
Swift was also appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress, by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
At her new role at Education at Work, Swift will continue to focus on improving education outcomes and experiences for students. Since its founding in 2012, Education at Work says it has awarded over $100 million in combined wages and tuition assistance to nearly 8,100 students nationwide. The nonprofit says its programs have an impact after graduation, with participating students 25% more likely to graduate from their institution and to do so with 40% less student debt.
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