The Quilt Staff

Jen Leasure, President and CEO

Jennifer (Jen) Leasure is the President and CEO of The Quilt – a consortium of the country’s advanced regional networking organizations supporting research and education (R&E).

Formerly the Program Manager for The Quilt, Jen helped shape the strategic direction of the organization through developing and supporting programs of strategic importance to members and expanding outreach to the R&E community. Prior to joining The Quilt, Jen spent more than 15 years in increasingly senior positions in the telecommunications and healthcare industries, including in the role of Director of Customer Operations for a commercial internet provider.

Jen has extensive experience in operational management, organizational optimization, and development of partner relationships. She has designed and implemented operational improvement initiatives including automation, organizational design and process improvement across all areas of operations for broadband, telecommunications and healthcare companies.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Colorado State University and a Master in Arts in Microeconomics from the University of New Mexico.

Jennifer Griffin, Program Director

Jennifer Griffin is the Program Director of The Quilt. In this role, she provides program and project coordination and works closely with the President and CEO, Board Chair, Executive Committee and Quilt members to promote advanced networking and regional networks in the research and education community.

Her previous experience includes serving the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Network Engineering and Telecommunications Section as an administrative and technical resource. She has also worked as a design consultant and as Assistant to the President at Environmental Communication Associates, assisting with project implementation and management for crisis communications and media training for Fortune 500 companies and government agencies worldwide.

Jennifer has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rhode Island.