Jessica McWade is President of McWade Group, Inc. She is a deeply experienced leader, thinker, communicator, and facilitator across the higher education, not-for-profit, and corporate sectors. For 25 years, she has advised scores of organizations and institutions in leadership and team development, strategic planning, communications, and market research with McWade Group and as Executive Vice President of Maguire Associates.
She was previously Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Communications for Raytheon, where she served on the company’s Global Executive Leadership Team. She was also Director, Corporate Communications for Textron and Director, Corporate Affairs for BankBoston, having graduated from the Loan Officer Development Program there and served as an international lender. She was also Deputy Press Secretary to the Mayor of Boston and a photographer for the Governor of Massachusetts.
Jessica is past president of the World Affairs Council of Boston, where she received the Distinguished Service Award. She is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations, immediate past Board Chair of SEA Education Association in Woods Hole, MA, and has served on many boards. Jessica was appointed a Fellow to the Salzburg Seminar (Austria), served as a British-American Fellow (Northern Ireland), and is an alumna of the LEADBoston Program. She was once named one of Boston’s “Ten Outstanding Young Leaders” by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Jessica is also a Commander (Retired) in the U.S. Naval Reserve, serving for 15 years and undertaking assignments around the world, from the Soviet Union, Norway, and the Arctic to NATO headquarters in Brussels and the U.S. Embassy in Rome.
Jessica earned an Ed.D. in leadership and organizational development from George Washington University. She also holds degrees from Harvard University’s Kennedy School (2-year MPA Program), New York University’s Stern School (MBA, PPG Industries Fellow) and Boston University’s College of Communication (BS). She earned certification as an Action Learning Coach through the World Institute of Action Learning. She also studied at the Stockholm School of Economics. Jessica also attended the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, University of Wisconsin Writers’ Institute, and the Shakespeare program at St. John’s College in Santa Fe.
Jessica loves to learn and to teach. She’s traveled to 50 countries and believes that world travel is the best possible education. She is a photographer, blogger (This Moment @ www.jessicamcwade.blogspot.com), and frequent speaker. She delivered a TEDx Talk in 2018 entitled, “Walking the Leadership Talk.” She published her first book in 2017, “This Moment: Reflections on Leading, Learning, Laughing, and Living” and a coffee-table photography book in 2022, “Shutter to Think: Photo Reflections from the Road.” Both are available on Amazon.com.