Jennifer Carey

I currently serve as the Executive Director of the Worcester Education Collaborative an independent, non partisan education advocacy and action organization. I hold Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges. In 1998 I served as Special Assistant to Governor Paul Cellucci of Massachusetts, and a year later became Director of the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulations under Governor Jane Swift. I also served in Governor Mitt Romney’s administration for four years and briefly in Governor Deval Patrick’s administration as Secretary of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs. From 2007 until 2009, I oversaw the development of education and training solutions at Commonwealth Medicine, a division of University of Massachusetts Medical School. Before joining Massachusetts state government, I enjoyed a long career in education and worked at Ohio University, Harvard University and at Bancroft School, an independent K-12 school in Worcester. I am also the founding director of the Initiative for Engaged Citizenship, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that provides educational workshops about effective, meaningful participation in the public policy processes of the local, state and federal governments. An active member of my community, I serve on several non-profit boards and am a member of the Worcester Arts Council and the Guild of Worcester Enamelists.

Social justice, particularly in the area of education. Fostering creativity. Reading the written word and listening to the spoken word of a diversity of people with a host of ideas and range of perspectives.

Change comes from the margin and improves the center. For example the changes to public access demanded by long marginalized people with disabilities have enhanced the quality of life for us all. Witness increased sensitivity to learning styles in the classroom, better access for elders in public accommodations, and something as simple as curb cuts that allow better access for mothers with strollers. The demands of those at the margins keep all of us--at the personal and institutional levels accountable to assuring that our espoused values and our expressed values are aligned.

A haven for learning about ideas that matter in the deluge of things that utterly do not matter.

Photography