Innovative Workforce Financing Models

Heather Devries, Ph.D.
Dean, Academic Affairs and Assessment | Accreditation Liaison Officer 
Hudson County Community College

Heather Devries works in Academic Affairs and provides oversight for the College's inventory of credit-bearing programs and courses. Heather is also responsible for academic compliance and academic assessment. Additionally, Heather serves as the institution's accreditation liaison officer (ALO) with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Heather chairs the College's Student Success Dream Team, the Curriculum & Instruction Committee, and co-chairs the Incarcerated and Reentry Training Task Force. Heather also provides leadership for the College's strategic planning process and led the development of the College's 2021-24 Strategic Plan, Hudson is Home.

Prior to joining the HCCC family in 2015, Heather was an adjunct professor teaching College Composition at several New Jersey institutions. In 2015, she joined HCCC as a College Lecturer in Humanities but has since moved into an administrative role. She has held several titles since 2018. In addition to serving on a variety of committees and task forces, Heather served as the co-chair for Standard V of the College's MSCHE Self-Study in 2019. More recently, Heather served as co-chair of the Return to Campus Task Force. Heather was the co-recipient of the College's first Hudson Is Home Inspirational Leadership Award in 2021. Heather has presented on her work in student success, incarcerated and reentry training programs, and strategic planning at numerous regional and national conferences. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Jake Edwards
Vice President, Impact Investments,
Social Finance

Jake Edwards is a Vice President of Impact Investments at Social Finance, where he leads a portfolio of economic mobility initiatives that use innovative financing models to increase access to effective programs, shift risk away from learners, and pair high-quality training with critical wrap-around supports. His work includes oversight of the Google Career Certificate Fund and several Pay It Forward Funds.

Since joining the organization in February 2014, he has worked with the advisory services and impact investment teams to test and implement projects across multiple jurisdictions and issue areas, from child welfare to housing and homelessness.

Prior to joining Social Finance, Jake was a policy analyst with the Massachusetts House Committee on Ways and Means.

Jake graduated Cum Laude from Middlebury College, with a dual major in Economics and History.

Susan Dundon (moderator)
Director, Young Adults and Working Families, 
Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation

Susan Dundon is the Director of the Young Adults and Working Families focus area at the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, where she has worked since 2017. As a Detroit Revitalization Fellow from 2015-2017, she ran a skilled trades on-the-job training program at the social enterprise Reclaim Detroit. She also spent a decade in international development, working to improve access to water, sanitation, and hygiene in rural areas. She started her career in the labor movement as a strategic researcher and analyst, first with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and then with the United Auto Workers (UAW).  
 
She has a BA from Oberlin College, an MA from Northwestern University and an MSc in Global Health from Trinity College Dublin.

Ronit Kanwar 
Director,
Schmidt Futures

Ronit Kanwar is a Director at Schmidt Futures where he works on Talent, building strategic partnerships, and developing new initiatives.

He is passionate about building companies for good and is a proud advocate of social entrepreneurship. Prior to Schmidt Futures, Ronit co-founded Empower Energy, a rural distribution network in India. Empower Energy is an award-winning social enterprise which has distributed solar lamps across the state of Odisha.  Ronit has been named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list and is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper.

Ronit holds a B.A. in Economics and Management from the University of Oxford.