Jessica C. McWade is president of McWade Group. She has also served as a top executive in three Fortune 200 corporations, senior military officer and successful entrepreneur. She is a doctoral-degree candidate in leadership and organizational development at The George Washington University and is also an active speaker, blogger, podcaster and photojournalist.

Prior to opening her own practice in 1999, Ms. McWade was Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Communications for Raytheon; Director, Corporate Communications for Textron; and Director, Corporate Affairs for BankBoston. In these positions, she was responsible for budgets up to $100 million, staffs of 100+ employees, and foundations with annual philanthropy up to $20 million. Ms. McWade also served as a Deputy Press Secretary to Boston Mayor Kevin White and photographer to Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis.

She is past president of the World Affairs Council of Boston. In this capacity, she personally presented the Council’s annual Herter Award to heads of state for Argentina, Ireland and Mexico as well as the Secretary-General of the United Nations. She is a past recipient of the Council’s Distinguished Service Award. She is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations and The Harvard Club and has served on numerous boards. She is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who among American Women. Earlier in her career, Ms. McWade was named one of Boston’s Ten Outstanding Young Leaders.

Ms. McWade was appointed a Fellow to the Salzburg Seminar (Austria), served as a British-American Fellow (Northern Ireland), and is an alumna of the LEADBoston program. She is a participant in the annual Renaissance Weekend over New Year’s in Charleston, South Carolina as well as the Socrates Seminar at the Aspen Institute. She has also served on the faculty of Simmons College in Boston.

She is a Commander (Retired) in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Ms. McWade participated in Presidential-level assignments commemorating the 50th anniversaries of Pearl Harbor and Anzio, where she was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Rome. She also supported VE-Day 50th anniversary events at Buckingham Palace in London. She served on numerous NATO exercise staffs throughout Europe, in the North Pole and northern Greenland, and at NATO headquarters in Brussels. She also participated in the historic 1990 U.S. Navy goodwill visit to Vladivostok, Soviet Union. She served on the staff of the Secretary of Defense for the 1996 U.S.-Australian Summit in Sydney and as a naval liaison to the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans. She also served as a Flag Lieutenant to an Admiral. Ms. McWade was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal, twice received the Navy Achievement Medal as well as the Navy’s Twice a Citizen Award.

Ms. McWade was graduated from Boston University (B.S., Journalism), New York University (M.B.A.), and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (M.P.A.). She earned the Scripps-Howard Scholarship at Boston University and the PPG Industries Fellowship at New York University. She also attended The Stockholm School of Economics on an International Management Program Fellowship. She was also graduated from BankBoston’s Loan Officer Development Program and served there as an international commercial banker. Additionally, she has studied at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, the University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop, the University of Wisconsin Writers’ Institute, the Naval War College and the Omega Institute. She has traveled to nearly 40 countries across six continents, thus far!