Jessica Lawrence Quinn is currently the CEO of the Putnam Foundation, a foundation established in 1952, which makes grants in the areas of arts, culture, historic preservation and climate change. Jessica is also the CEO of the 1911 Office, a single-family office based in NH. Previously, Jessica was the Executive Director of Civic Hall, a one-of-a-kind non-profit collaborative community center in New York City that advanced the use of technology for the public good. Prior to joining Civic Hall, Jessica served as CEO of NY Tech Alliance, a non-profit organization supporting New York’s growing technology community, and the organizer of NY Tech Meetup, the world’s largest Meetup group. Before becoming CEO of NY Tech Alliance, Jessica was the Executive Director of NY Tech Meetup (NYTM). She lead the NYTM’s merger with fellow non-profit NY Tech Council to form NY Tech Alliance in 2016.

In addition to her work at NY Tech Alliance and NY Tech Meetup, Jessica is also the co-founder of the Work Revolution Summit, launched in 2013, and co-organizer of The Work Revolution (www.workrevolution.org).

Prior to her work with NYTM, Jessica was the CEO of Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council in Southern California. During her tenure, she was the youngest Girl Scout Council CEO in the country. While serving as CEO, Jessica was an architect of change, leading the organization through much needed shifts in organizational culture and structure, and reshaping the strategic vision of the organization to providing high-quality, relevant programming.

In July 2008, she successfully led Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council to become the first non-profit organization in the country to migrate to a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE). In April 2010, Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council was selected by The Non-Profit Times as one of the fifty best non-profits in the country to work for, ranking number eight on the list.

Jessica received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Maryland, graduating Cum Laude, and earned her Certificate of Non-Profit Management from Duke University. She was one of only 15 women selected to participate in Seth Godin’s Female Entrepreneur MBA (FeMBA) in 2010.

Jessica has received numerous personal and professional awards including the Girl Scouts of the USA Frances Hesselbein Award for Excellence in Management in 2007, was selected as one of The Daily Muse’s 12 Women to Watch in 2012, and as one of the Crain’s New York Business People to Watch in Silicon Alley 2013

In addition, Jessica’s writing has been featured on Harvard Business Review blog, Forbes.com, The Next Web, The Huffington Post and in a weekly column in The Press-Enterprise. Jessica and organizations under her leadership have been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Crain’s New York Business, The Huffington Post, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., TechCrunch, Mashable, The Next Web, The Non-Profit Times, the book Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It, the book The Work Revolution, and on CNN, WNYC, NBC, NY1, and many other media outlets.

Jessica speaks frequently on topics such as the technology industry, women in technology, organizational culture, the future or work, and management and leadership. She has been a speaker at PopTech, TEDx, SXSW and the Nonprofit Technology Conference, and at events and conferences organized by The New York Times,  The United Nations, WNYC, Roosevelt House, PSFK, Fast Company, The Economist,The Next Web, Social Media Week, Internet Week, New York University, and many others.

Short Bio

Jessica Lawrence Quinn is currently the CEO of the Putnam Foundation and the 1911 Office (a single-family office). Previously, Jessica was the Executive Director of Civic Hall, a one-of-a-kind non-profit collaborative community center in New York City that advanced the use of technology for the public good. Prior to joining Civic Hall, Jessica served as CEO of NY Tech Alliance, a non-profit organization supporting New York’s growing technology community, and she was the organizer of NY Tech Meetup, the world’s largest Meetup group. Before moving to New York, Jessica was the CEO of Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council in Southern California, where she supported a community of 75 staff, 5,000 volunteers, and 15,000 girls. Jessica’s writing has been featured on the Harvard Business Review blog, Forbes.com, The Next Web, The Huffington Post and in a weekly column in The Press-Enterprise. She has also done substantial speaking on the tech sector, the future of work, and organizational development and culture at events such as PopTech, SXSW, and TEDx. Jessica is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Leadership for Sustainability with the University of Vermont (expected 2025). She is also active in her community, including serving on the NH Community Committee for MacDowell and as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Well School.