Who We Are
Business and university leaders join the Forum to lead innovation that meets the changing talent needs of learners, workers, and businesses. For our members and partners, we:
- Convene action-oriented summits and roundtables
- Rapidly prototype, implement, and scale talent solutions that bridge learning and work
- Illuminate emerging talent needs and skills gaps
- Advocate for transformative business-higher education partnerships
We believe that complex challenges require collaborative solutions. Our work empowers committed, innovative leaders to build strong pathways and partnerships across education and employment. Our work enables our partners to achieve the following results:
- Improved career and academic outcomes for learners
- Rapid development of responsive and replicable credentials and pathways that prepare a workforce with critical skills
- Earlier connections to new talent prepared for the workplace
- More diverse talent pipelines
- More systemic capacity for industry-aligned educational pathways that produce talent for critical professions
The Business-Higher Education Forum is a national network that connects pioneering corporate and higher education leaders to co-develop solutions that address talent gaps. We empower and catalyze collaborations that deliver accelerated, inclusive, and effective solutions across education and work.
The Business-Higher Education Forum Board of Directors
Laura K. Ipsen,* President and Chief Executive Officer, Ellucian, and Chair, BHEF Board of Directors
Jeffrey D. Armstrong, President, California Polytechnic State University, and Vice Chair, BHEF Board of Directors
Timothy D. Sands,* President, Virginia Tech, and Immediate Past Chair, BHEF Board of Directors
Jae Lynn Akin, HR Executive, State Farm
Joseph E. Aoun,* President, Northeastern University
Terrence Cheng, Chancellor, Connecticut State Colleges and Universities
John J. DeGioia, President, Georgetown University
Lisa Gevelber, Chief Marketing Officer, Americas Region, Google and Founder, Grow with Google
Earl F. "Marty" Martin, President, Drake University
Ryan Oakes,* Managing Director, Accenture
Jay A. Perman, M.D., Chancellor, University System of Maryland
Madeline Pumariega,* President, Miami Dade College
Chris Reber, President, Hudson County Community College
Kristen Fox, CEO, Business-Higher Education Forum
Ex Officio
*executive committee member
Staff
With deep expertise in designing, funding, and implementing new workforce and education strategies and programs, the Business-Higher Education Forum catalyzes creative solutions that drive impact. Our team brings critical expertise, skills, and a spirit of partnership, curiosity, and entrepreneurship to our work.
Experienced in leading and facilitating change, team members provide insights on issues impacting high-performing business-higher education collaboration and the future of work.
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CEO
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SVP and Chief Programs Officer
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SVP and Chief Financial Officer
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Managing Director for Partnerships
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Senior Director of Member Engagement
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Director, Operations and Human Resources
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Director of Regional Initiatives
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Manager, Workforce Partnerships
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Senior Advisor, Faculty Innovation Fellowship
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Senior Advisor
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Advisor, Research and Insights
Members, Partners, and Funders
Business and university leaders join the Forum to lead innovation that meets the changing talent needs of learners, workers, and businesses.
We’re the trusted advisor to leaders of the nation’s top businesses, educational institutions, philanthropies, and government agencies.
American higher education set the gold standard for innovation, economic development, and social good. Yet our current educational systems and pathways are not adequately or inclusively connecting learners and workers to economic opportunity and the careers and skills of the future.
And, technology advancements are accelerating changes across the workforce, growing persistent shortages across critical occupations, and widening the gap across the skills and competencies needed for success in the workplace. Higher education and business leaders need spaces to co-create and experiment with more inclusive, agile and effective paradigms for recruiting, developing, and connecting talent to opportunity.