As an advisor for multiple foundation initiatives, Jean finds deep satisfaction in integrating several aspects of her career and life—from ideating programs to mentoring students to working with people of different faiths and backgrounds on social justice issues. At the Foundation, she helps lead the Upper House Fellows Program and teaches a track on service and leadership called Making a Difference. She also provides strategic input to several aspects of the foundation’s work, especially as it relates to innovation and creative partnerships.

For over a decade, Jean has led an anti-human trafficking project at the University of Wisconsin–Madison called 4W-STREETS. Her deep foreign policy experience in human rights and related issues at the U.S. Department of State, the National Security Council, and various think tanks and international organizations, undergirds her foundation advisory role. As a researcher, she studied social networks in Southeast Asia, and technology, child protection, and anti-trafficking projects in Africa and Latin America; and she has taught courses on human rights advocacy, human trafficking, and international child rights as an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University and a Visiting Distinguished Lecturer at UW–Madison.

Jean earned a B.S.B.A. from Georgetown University, an M.S. from Michigan State University, and a Ph.D. from UW–Madison, where she also received the 2006 Distinguished Young Alumni Award. Jean is married to Chris and lives in Oshkosh with her family. You’ll find her happiest hanging out with eagles, chickadees, deer, and other critters on the shores of Huron Bay in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.