Jessica Lawrence Quinn

Jessica Lawrence Quinn has built a career leading non-profit organizations and philanthropic initiatives with a focus on strategic planning and operational oversight. Her early career saw her rise through the ranks at the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council, where she began as a Fund Development Manager in 2004. By 2008, she became the youngest CEO in the organization’s history, overseeing 75 staff and 15,000 girls. During her tenure, she pioneered the implementation of a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) in July 2008, a move that contributed to the council being recognized as one of the top non-profits to work for by The Non-Profit Times in 2010.

Her leadership continued to impact the technology and civic sectors in New York City. From 2011, she served as the Executive Director of NY Tech Meetup, the world’s largest Meetup group. This role culminated in a successful merger with NY Tech Council in 2016, forming NY Tech Alliance, where she served as CEO until 2017. Following this, she became the Executive Director of Civic Hall in New York, a non-profit collaborative community center dedicated to advancing technology for the public good. In this role, she directed full-scale operations and strategic development, leading initiatives to diversify the tech industry and secure funding for key projects, including a 22-story building development.

Since September 2020, Jessica has held dual roles as CEO of the Putnam Foundation and the 1911 Office, a single-family office. The Putnam Foundation, established in 1952, focuses its grants on arts, culture, historic preservation, and climate change. Throughout her career, Jessica has been a frequent speaker at global conferences such as TEDx, SXSW, and PopTech, and her writings have been featured in publications including the Harvard Business Review blog and Forbes.com. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Leadership for Sustainability from the University of Vermont.