John Schneider

John is an accomplished leader in expanding educational and economic opportunities in Massachusetts with more than 20 years of experience working with government, nonprofit, and public policy organizations. Prior to joining Mass Insight, John worked with charter management organizations on strategies for expansion in underserved communities and with Empower Schools on their strategic expansion in Massachusetts. He served as the executive vice president of the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC) where he led the organization’s groundbreaking Gateway Cities research and policy initiative and the New Skills for a New Economy Campaign, MassINC’s workforce development research and advocacy program. Prior to joining MassINC, John directed a regional planning and economic development partnership in Boston’s high-tech Metrowest region. He also served as chief of staff to the House majority whip and research director to the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Education, Arts, and Humanities, where he played a key staff role in the development, passage, and implementation of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993. John also has worked in higher education, coordinating programs for first-generation college students and adult students returning to college to complete their degrees. He began his career as a teacher in an alternative high school working with out-of-school youth in Chicago and Boston. Trained in education and public policy, John has degrees from Northeastern University and the Loyola University of Chicago.