Wendy Puriefoy

Wendy Puriefoy "is President of Public Education Network (PEN). Prior to joining PEN, she worked on the desegregation of Boston public schools and was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Boston Foundation. She holds Master of Arts degrees in African-American Studies, American Studies, and American Colonial History from Boston University." 

"Ms. Puriefoy has been president of Public Education Network (PEN), the nation’s largest network of community-based school reform organizations, since PEN was founded in 1991. Under her visionary leadership, PEN has grown into a national network of local education funds reaching more than 11 million children in 1,220 school districts and 18,000 schools nationwide...

"Ms. Puriefoy is also a noted leader in the philanthropic world. Prior to being recruited as president of PEN, Ms. Puriefoy was executive vice president and chief operating officer of The Boston Foundation, a community foundation with an endowment of over $750 million supporting public health/welfare, educational, cultural, environmental, and housing programs in Boston, Massachusetts. Ms. Puriefoy serves on the boards of numerous high-profile national organizations including DEMOS, Hasbro Children's Foundation, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and the National Center for Family Philanthropy. In the past, Ms. Puriefoy served on the boards of FairTest, Jobs for the Future, Milton Hershey School, Ms. Foundation for Women, The PEW Forum on Standards-Based Reform, Women and Philanthropy, the National Charities Information Bureau, the Council on Foundations, Teach for America, Children's Express, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and the Boston Annenberg Challenge." 


 * Director, Children's Defense Fund
 * Director, White House Project
 * Trustee, Demos: A Network for Ideas & Action
 * Policy Review Board, Public Agenda Foundation