Jane leads State Policy Network’s efforts to build, strengthen and accelerate state think tanks’ education policy initiatives. In that role, she oversees programming to help SPN members advance education issue campaigns and develop winning legislative strategies.
Jane joins the team with more than a decade of experience in strategic communications, issue advocacy, and government affairs at various levels and branches of government.
Most recently, Jane co-founded a 501(c)(4) organization to promote school choice and make direct education funding a dominant issue in Chicago’s next municipal election.
Jane served as a communications director for the Illinois House Republican caucus after working for a national tech trade association that promotes the growth of the innovation economy. In that capacity, she represented more than 80 companies across 11 state legislatures in the Midwest.
Before that, Jane served in a senior leadership position for then-Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, advancing the administration’s legislative agenda in the Illinois House. In 2017, she was a lead negotiator for the state’s historic education funding reform that contained Illinois’ first-ever tax credit scholarship program, Invest in Kids.
Prior to representing the executive branch on the House floor, Jane was the Director of Legislative Affairs for the Illinois Department of Revenue, during which time her office was recognized for exceptional results in advancing simpler, smarter tax policy and awarded the 2016 Outstanding Achievement in State Tax Reform by the Tax Foundation.
Before returning to her home state to manage government affairs for the Illinois Policy Institute, Jane cut her teeth on the comms team for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign and in Congressman Paul Ryan’s Capitol Hill office in 2011.
Jane received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross. She is a proud member of her parish garden club (bringing the median age of membership down by a few decades!), has solo-hiked across Spain and lives in Chicago with her golden retriever, Winnie.