Jennifer Preston

Jennifer Preston is a program manager for strategic consulting at RTI, where she serves as the Individual Program Administrator for Consortium Management for the Defense STEM Education Consortium, a collaborative partnership that aims to broaden STEM literacy and develop an agile STEM workforce. With the goal of inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers, this multi-year effort includes elements focused on STEM enrichment programs for students and educators, STEM workforce engagement, program evaluation, and public outreach. Dr. Preston also facilitates the North Carolina Large District Consortium, which is a network of the leaders of the twelve largest school districts in North Carolina. Together, these districts educate over half of the students in the state.

Before joining RTI, Dr. Preston served as the Director for North Carolina for College Advising Corps, a project manager for the SAS Institute and an adjunct faculty member at Duke University. In addition, she also has experience working as a high school social studies teacher for Warren County Schools in North Carolina. She is experienced in long-term organizational planning, associated communications strategies, building sustained strategic partnerships, extensive budget management and government relations. She is a certified Project Management Professional, and she has also received a certificate in change management from Harvard University.