Jen Vorse Wilka

Jen Vorse Wilka, Executive Director of YouthTruth, leads YouthTruth, a rapidly growing national nonprofit that harnesses student perceptions to help educators and education funders accelerate improvements.

Jen is passionate about making education systems more responsive to the needs and aspirations of the students they serve. A native Vermonter, Jen’s belief in the transformative power of relationships traces back to her upbringing in a tightly-knit community on a 2-mile long dirt road. These days, Jen can be found listening to K-12 students across the country, amplifying their insights, and partnering with school systems and foundation leaders to center student feedback in decision-making.

Before joining YouthTruth, Jen supported a 25,000-student school system in Ecuador, developed programs and grantmaking strategies at the Boston Foundation, and worked on the Circle of Promise initiative in the Boston Mayor’s Office. She holds a BA in English from Williams College and an MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School, where she wrote an award-winning thesis on rethinking zero tolerance school discipline policies. Outside of work, Jen can be found rediscovering the world through the eyes of her two energetic young children and enjoying the Bay Area’s great outdoors.