Jane C. Edmonds is a Civil Rights icon in the greater Boston area. Founder and CEO / President of Jane C. Edmonds and Associates, Inc., a diversity leadership consultancy launched long before the term “diversity” was coined, Jane built her consultancy after her tenure as Chair of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the state body that investigates and adjudicates claims of discrimination in employment, housing, healthcare, etc. Jane noted how mutually unsatisfying these adjudications were to all parties, even those who “won”—and she became inspired to work on prevention, changing consciousness in individuals, organizations, and communities as a way to reduce discrimination and all forms of oppression and “othering.”

After two decades, Jane was drawn into public service, working with people across the spectrum of identity and politics and serving in senior leadership roles in both the Michael Dukakis and Mitt Romney gubernatorial administrations. She cultivated academic credentials over many years, teaching leadership and change-management through DEI principles at Northeastern University and around the world before joining Babson College as Vice President of Community Outreach and Programming — and launching Jane’s Way, LLC, a diversity, equity, and belonging (DEB) consultancy. Jane is knee-deep in community service, currently a member of several non-profit boards, commissions and professional associations, including Lahey Health, Facing History and Ourselves, The Group Insurance Commission of MA, Hebrew SeniorLife, Inc., and Delta Sigma Theta.  She is a graduate of Harvard University and Boston College Law School.  Jane’s networks are unparalleled—around the country and internationally. She is a convener, an empath, and an arbiter: anticipatory, kind, forthright, formidable, intuitive, experienced. She is laser focused on impact; in Jane’s words, the time is now.