Jennifer Swanberg

Jennifer is a faculty and leadership coach with over 25 years of experience in higher education as a teacher, researcher, director of a research center, and school dean. She pursues coaching from a holistic, strengths-based, and mindful perspective, partnering with clients to support them in achieving their professional and personal goals.

Clinically trained as an occupational therapist, with an expertise in mental health, Jennifer has worked to improve the quality of work-life for both working women and vulnerable working populations and to promote employee well-being and performance through research and policy interventions. Equity and social justice are core principles that inform Jennifer’s teaching, leadership, and management endeavors. She is dedicated to translating research findings into tools and resources that can be used by employers and policymakers to improve the quality of work-life and well-being for workers and their families. Her extensive knowledge in these areas provides a unique context for her coaching clients, as Jennifer incorporates the most current science on said topics to facilitate optimal outcomes for her clients.

Jennifer is currently Dean of the School of Professional Studies and professor of health policy and management at Providence College (PC). Prior to Providence College, she was a professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work where she was also the Director of the University of Maryland Work, Family & Well-being Research Group. While on the faculty of the University of Kentucky College of Social Work, Jennifer held the Joanne Bell Professorship in Critical Thinking & Social Policy Analysis and founded and directed the Institute for Workplace Innovation (iwin). As part of this initiative, she also founded the Innovative Employer Roundtable, an employer-membership organization committed to developing and sharing new knowledge about innovative business strategies.

Jennifer has published extensively in top-tier research journals, provided testimony in support of federal and local labor-related policy initiatives, and is frequently consulted by the media about matters pertaining to low-wage work and work-family issues. Jennifer has a Ph.D. in Social Policy and a MMHS in Management, both from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, and a B.S. in Occupational Therapy from the University of New Hampshire.