Jennifer K. Thompson is the Senior Director of LaunchPad, State Policy Network’s incubation and acceleration lab. Along with SPN team members from across the organization, she works to support social and business entrepreneurs who are creating innovative solutions to the challenges our communities face. She joined SPN after serving as the Executive Director of Civil Squared, a project dedicated to reducing political polarization and improving civil discourse. Previously, Jennifer was the founding Vice President of Co-Sponsored Programs at Liberty Fund, Inc. and Senior Director of Programs at the Institute for Humane Studies.
She holds a PhD and MA in philosophy from Vanderbilt University, completed the Education for Ministry program at Sewanee, and is a proud graduate of the Atlas Leadership Academy. The most important thing her education has taught her is how much she has left to learn, and, in her free time, she and her family enjoy visiting museums and historical sites, hiking, and hearing live music whenever they have the chance.