The Vermont Business Roundtable Research and Education Foundation has announced that executive director Mary Schwartz will leave the organization at the end of this year.
VBR Foundation board chair Judy O’Connell said, “Mary has been instrumental and one of the hardest working champions of young children in our state. We applaud her work with business leaders statewide to build public recognition that strong education policy matters, but successful implementation matters even more. This move will allow Mary to pursue projects to support better implementation locally, so that all children can be successful in school and life.”
Vermont Business Roundtable president Lisa Ventriss said, “As a policy activist and researcher, Mary successfully spearheaded the effort to pass landmark legislation for pre-k, home visiting programs, and worked tirelessly for the benefit of young children. Mary will be moving on to other projects, but will continue to work for the benefit of our state’s young children. The Roundtable applauds her dedication and hard work in building coalitions to get the hard work of passing key pieces of legislation done.”
Schwartz began working with the Roundtable in 2007, through funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, and in-state foundations. She launched the Pre-K Vermont Coalition, the Vermont Higher Ed/Early Ed Task Force, the Vermont Home Visiting Alliance, and helped to staff both the Roundtable’s Nordic Education Scholarship awards program and Education Task Force. In those capacities, she provided research and information to Vermont education experts to support policy development and legislation, testified to legislative committees on the value of ensuring all children have necessary early childhood supports and programs to help them be successful in school, and provided information to Vermont business leaders to do the same.
Schwartz moves on to focus on better local implementation of state educational policy, through communications and coalition projects.