Jessica Lawrence Quinn

Executive Leader, Speaker, Writer

New England

Jessica Lawrence Quinn is the CEO of the Putnam Foundation

Jessica Lawrence Quinn

Executive Leader, Speaker, Writer

New England

Jessica Lawrence Quinn is the CEO of the Putnam Foundation

The Three Essential Skills You’ll Need to Survive the Future of Work
Twenty or thirty years ago, you couldn’t start your own business anywhere in the world with just a couple clicks of a mouse. To work, you had to show up at an office because that was where your typewriter or giant desktop computer was, where your important documents were kept in file cabinets, and where your business phone was tethered to the wall.
Medium
Featured
The Next Big Opportunity for Startups
When I made the transition two years ago from working with a 100 year-old organization — one I had called home for almost eight years — to working with companies sometimes less than 100 hours old, I assumed I would see tremendous differences. In my early career, I had experienced the textbook definition of outdated management thinking that centered on hierarchy and lack of trust.
Harvard Business Review
The Signals that Make Tech Start-Ups So Homogeneous
This statement, from an entrepreneur and investor, and a self-described man of color himself, is a succinct summation of one of the core elements of misguided thinking underlying the problem of homogeneity in the tech startup world. But it also just scratches the surface. When he made this proclamation in a room full of people working diligently to diversify the technology industry, it was both alarming and sadly somewhat expected.
Harvard Business Review
Think Outside the Cube: Why the Office Isn't the Best Workspace
When you think about it that way, our work patterns sound ridiculous. But, decades ago, when we moved from assembling widgets to assembling ideas, we never re-constructed our workspaces to optimize for our work as thinking beings. To be fair, there was a time when we needed offices. Making a phone call for work meant you needed to be seated at a desk.
Forbes
Uncasting the Spell of Productivity
I was toggling back and forth between two open browser tabs when suddenly I realized a trend I had sensed coming, had finally shown up rather blatantly on my screen. The first tab? A short video explaining all of the creative ways I could eke productive work out of unexpected pockets of free time created by cancelled meetings or phone calls that ended sooner then expected.
The Next Web
Maps Not Measuring Sticks
It's an interesting exercise to sit down and add up all of the things you think you should be doing every day and see how much time doing all of those things would actually take. And yet if you read articles like "5 Things Super Successful People Do Before 8 a.m." you might walk away feeling like there's something wrong with you if you can't fit in half of that list before 8 o'clock in the morning.
The Huffington Post
Examining the Impact of Progress
Progress – and frequently the lack of it – have a significant impact on how we feel about our work. At the broader level, we also experience progress not just connected to daily tasks, but to large projects or the entire mission of a department or company. One of the most significant disconnects that occurs in organizations is when people are working day in and day out on tasks that have unclear meaning or do not seem to be contributing to the overall progress of a company.
The Press-Enterprise
External Optimist Internal Pessimist
Researcher and author Martin Seligman has years of experience gauging whether someone is an optimist or a pessimist based on their word choice. He has done this with everyone from politicians giving campaign trail speeches to baseball players explaining a win or a loss.
Medium

About

Jessica Lawrence Quinn

I am a forward-thinking senior executive with 15+ years of experience spearheading innovative operations and strategic business planning for mission-driven social impact organizations. I am known for leading substantial growth and for introducing data-driven and human-centered agile practices to increase an organization’s impact. My hallmarks include exceptional team leadership, expert problem-solving capabilities, and a proven track record of introducing programs that transforming an organization’s culture.

I speak regularly at conferences and events around the world, including TEDx, SXSW, PopTech, The Conference, Webdagene, Nonprofit Technology Conference, PSFK, Fast Company, The Economist, NY Times, The Next Web, UN, WNYC, Roosevelt House, Social Media Week, Internet Week, and NYU. My writing has been featured on Harvard Business Review blog, Forbes.com, The Next Web, The Huffington Post, The Daily Muse, and numerous other publications.