CBT: The College Brain Trust - Consultants

Mary Crabbe Gershwin

With more than 25 years of practical experience in strategic planning, workforce development policy and public/private partnerships, Dr. Mary Gershwin has worked to expand workforce quality and educational achievement with a wide range of organizations. Clients include The Ford Foundation, the US Embassy in Brazil, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The U.S. Department of State, USAID, The National Governors Association, The American Association of Community Colleges, National Council of State Legislators, and The National Association of Manufacturers.

Fluent in Portuguese, Dr. Gershwin currently serves as President of US-Brazil Connect where she is building public-private partnerships that leverage the power of global connections to strengthen education, improve skills, and expand economic opportunity in the U.S. and Brazil.

Most recently, with funding from the Lumina Foundation and Joyce Foundations, Gershwin established Business Champions Inc and oversaw development of a national strategy to engage employers as leaders in improving community colleges. As a part of this process, she facilitated a series of seven White House meetings for the Education and Training Committee of President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. This work resulted in the establishment of Skills for America’s Future at the Aspen Institute and a national action plan to create high-impact partnerships for jobs in the U.S.

From 1989 to 2004, Dr. Gershwin worked as a teacher, researcher, policy leader, and senior executive for The Colorado Community College System. As Executive Director of the Division System Advancement for the Colorado Community Colleges System, she created and implemented an aligned policy and resource development agenda to support of the 13 colleges of the Colorado Community College System and its 117,000 students.

She has a B.A. in Economics and a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from the University of Denver.