QUINCY, MA -- The Nellie Mae Education Foundation is pleased to announce the appointments of Betty Francisco to its Board of Directors, and Jessica Jones and Juliette Menga as advisory members of the Board’s Investment Committee. Together, these three powerful community and business leaders will bring tremendous expertise and guidance to the Nellie Mae Education Foundation as we launch our new organizational strategy to advance racial equity in public education.
“We are delighted to welcome these three talented leaders as part of this exciting new chapter for our organization,” said Nick Donohue, President & CEO of Nellie Mae. “Their perspectives and insights will be incredibly valuable as we reshape our grantmaking through a race equity lens to ensure that all students across New England have access to an excellent public education.”
Betty Francisco is an entrepreneur, community leader, business executive and attorney. She is known as a powerful convener and collaborator, passionate about creating visibility for the growing Latinx business and civic community in Massachusetts. In 2018, Boston Magazine named her one of the 100 most Influential People in Boston. She was also honored by GetKonnected as part of the GK100: Greater Boston’s Most Influential People of Color list.
Betty is the co-founder of Latina Circle, a Boston-based network that is advancing Latina leaders into positions of power and influence across industries. She was also instrumental in launching Latina Circle’s Amplify Latinx initiative to increase Latinx civic engagement and political representation. Currently, Betty is the General Counsel at Compass Working Capital, where she serves as chief legal advisor. She has over 17 years of experience advising health clubs, life sciences, and technology companies in the areas of legal, compliance, risk management, operations, and human resources. Previously, Betty served as the CEO and Founder of FitNation Ventures, a business and legal consulting practice focused on advising health and fitness companies.
Betty obtained her JD and MBA from Northeastern University, and her BA in History from Bard College. She is fluent in Spanish and resides in Boston with her husband and two daughters. “It is so exciting to join the Foundation at a pivotal time as it implements its racial equity strategy,” she says. “I am looking forward to advancing the mission and elevating the voices of youth, families and grassroots leaders who are best positioned to shape innovative solutions for improving public education.”
Jessica Jones is Managing Director for Hedge Funds at Dartmouth College’s Investment Office. Before joining DCIO in 2018, she worked for almost a decade at HighVista Strategies, where she was a principal focusing on the firm’s external manager portfolio across public and private strategies. Previously, she held positions at Grove Street and Battery Ventures.
Jessica graduated summa cum laude with an AB degree from Princeton University in 2001. She is chair of the Princeton admissions office alumni schools committee for the western suburbs of Boston. Jessica co-founded and currently runs NextGen LPs, an industry networking association. She is also on the investment committee for the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center. “I am thrilled to be joining an organization that I know is truly committed to advancing racial equity in public education,” she says.
Juliette Menga, CFA is a Director and Associate Portfolio Manager at Alternative Investment Group, an independent investment firm based in Southport, CT. She has responsibility for manager sourcing and monitoring for all funds at the firm, and works closely with its head of investment strategy to define its strategic investment direction. Juliette is a member of the firm’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Sustainable Investing Committee, and has been with the firm since April 2007. Prior to joining Alternative Investment Group, Juliette was an Analyst at New York Live Investment Management. She has also worked as a Research Analyst for Excalibur Advisors LLC, a hedge fund advisory firm.
Juliette holds a dual BS, cum laude, from Kennesaw State University in Mathematics and Computer Science, and a MS in Financial Mathematics from Florida State University. She is also a Chartered Financial Analyst. “I look forward to partnering with the Nellie Mae team to think strategically about how we can best align the organization’s investments with its focus on equity,” says Juliette.
“As part of our new strategy, we are working to ensure all aspects of our organizational culture and practice promote equity — not only in our grantmaking, but also in how we invest our endowment in ways aligned with our values,” said Greg Gunn, Board Chair of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. “Betty, Jessica and Juliette will be instrumental in helping us achieve that goal.”
About the Nellie Mae Education Foundation
As the largest philanthropic organization in New England dedicated exclusively to education, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation has been committed to reshaping the high school learning experience by working with districts, schools and organizations to implement the principles of student-centered learning – learning that is personalized, engaging, competency-based and happens anytime, anywhere. We have been excited to see the scaling of student-centered practices and personalization through New England and nationwide. Yet too often the spread of such practices is not defined by rigorous or equitable distributions. We believe that high quality renditions of equitable, student-centered learning are critical to preparing students for college and career, and preparing New England communities for strong futures. Over the past year and half, the Foundation has been engaged in an equity and strategy review and development process to examine our organization’s investments and culture through the lens of racial equity – looking at how power is operating through resource distribution, whose voices are heard, what rules are in place, and who has authority and influence. Read more about that process here.
###
Contact:
Jackson Murphy
Solomon McCown & Cence
617-933-5011
jmurphy@solomonmccown.com
Website: www.nmef.org