Director of Strategic PartnershipsAspen Institute
Jacqueline Shiff is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Aspen Institute’s Youth & Engagement Programs. In this role, Jackie builds partnerships with individuals and entities across sectors focused on young people and their engagement in civic society.
Jackie came to the Aspen Institute from the University of Chicago Urban Labs, where she was the Director of Civic Partnerships and worked alongside Timothy Knowles to build a nationally-recognized institution that uses science in service of cities to improve lives in five key areas: Crime, Education, Health, Poverty, and Energy & the Environment. Prior to the University of Chicago, Jackie was the Director of Operations at a philanthropic foundation focused on youth violence.
A lifelong Chicagoan, Jackie recognized from a young age that too many children in her city lack access to the opportunities she had growing up, and she has spent her life committed to strengthening under resourced communities. Her exposure as an attorney to the criminal justice system reaffirmed her commitment to empowering young people and helping close the opportunity gap in America. She is licensed to practice law in Illinois and served for two years as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Mary L. Mikva.
Jackie serves on the Board of Directors of the Mikva Challenge, a national organization that develops youth to be informed, empowered, and active citizens and community leaders. She previously served on boards for the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern School of Law and the American Constitution Society. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and a Juris Doctor from Chicago-Kent College of Law.