Introduction of Baccalaureate Speaker, Jennifer Brown '89

By Benjamin D. Williams IV

Jennifer Brown first set foot on this Mesa 36 years ago, in the fall of 1987, when she arrived as a new junior from Newport Harbor High School. In a letter from the pastor at her church that accompanied Jennifer’s application was a prescient statement. “I believe that the time has come for Jennifer to assess her considerable gifts and talents and to bring into focus her life goals and ambitions.”

It’s a weighty expectation for a junior in high school, but Jennifer has never been daunted by high expectations, and she has always been – to quote several of her teachers – older than her years. One, in fact, was so impressed with Jennifer’s insight in Art History that she urged Jennifer in her final teacher to comment, “Go dancing, singing, laughing, and loving with bouquets of joy for yourself and others.”

From Cate, Jennifer journeyed to Middlebury College and thereafter to the Manhattan School of Music, where she earned a Masters in voice. After a time spent performing opera and musical theater, Jennifer pivoted and studied Business at Fordham. That breadth of experience and attention to discipline and study led Jennifer to a career as a corporate leader and inclusion expert.

Over the last several years, Jennifer has been a key partner to our Board of Trustees as we have attempted to improve our school governance and build practices that support and affirm all members of our Cate community. We did not turn to Jennifer because she is an alumna but because of the work she had done in the world that revealed her expertise, her wisdom, and her commitment to the very service Cate calls us to offer to the world.

An award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, author, and diversity, equity, and inclusion expert who is deeply passionate about the capacity of people to build a better world, Jennifer has set about helping us do just that.

As the Founder and CEO of Jennifer Brown Consulting (JBC), now in its 20th year of operation, Jennifer and her team design and execute inclusion strategies that have been implemented by some of the biggest companies and nonprofits in the world. She is also the bestselling author of four books on inclusive leadership which addresses some of the most pressing challenges of our times and demonstrates how identity, privilege and equity can drive opportunity for all.

Her keynoting has taken Jennifer everywhere from Google to IBM to the NASA Space Flight Center to leading business schools around the world, and her podcast, The Will to Change, is in its fifth year, and recognized as one of the top DEI podcasts.

Jennifer just relocated from New York City, her home for the last 25 years, and decamped to the beautiful Hudson Valley of New York State, with her partner of 25 years, Michelle, and their rescue kitties. It is a great privilege to welcome her back to the Mesa today on this auspicious occasion and to celebrate again the work we do together.