Jennifer Davis

cofounder, president, Massachusetts 2020

Jennifer Davis is the co-founder and president of Massachusetts 2020, a nonprofit foundation founded in 2000 with a goal of expanding educational and economic opportunities for children and families across Massachusetts. Massachusetts 2020 currently focuses chiefly on efforts to expand and improve learning opportunities for Massachusetts' children during out-of-school time. In 2004, Massachusetts 2020 launched its most ambitious initiative to date, a research and policy effort to restructure public schools to extend their day. In 2005, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a budget that included funding to support this policy reform. From 1989 to 1992, Jennifer was the special assistant to the executive director of the bi-partisan National Governors' Association (NGA), and advised the director on education and health policy, management, and political issues. In 1988 and 1992, Jennifer managed presidential campaign operations in several East Coast states, overseeing press strategy, field organization, volunteer operations, constituency groups and candidate visits. Jennifer began her career as a consultant to the youth organization Communities in Schools and developed case studies on their innovative program to support at-risk youth in Houston, Atlanta, Columbia, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1998, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino appointed Jennifer Davis to serve as the executive director of the Boston 2:00-to-6:00 After-School Initiative. Also, Jennifer Davis served in the Clinton Administration as deputy assistant secretary, Office of Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs, at the US Department of Education. Jennifer also worked as the special assistant to Secretary of Education Richard Riley from March 1993 until March 1997. Jennifer Davis has a master's degree in public policy from the Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, California, and a bachelor's degree with a concentration in government and sociology from Connecticut College. She was named a Coro Fellow in public policy in 1984 and participated in this leadership training program in St. Louis, Missouri.