Gretchen Syverud

Gretchen Syverud

Strategy Director

Articles by Gretchen

Gretchen Syverud is director of strategic alignment at Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. In that role, she works closely with the vice president of impact and planning to coordinate cross-team integration and improve overall strategy development and execution.

Syverud joined Lumina in 2016 as the strategy officer for state policy. Prior to that, she served as associate director of policy and research at the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), an interstate compact of the six New England states. She led NEBHE’s policy team in tracking and analyzing postsecondary education trends, issues, policies, and best practices to inform institutions, systems, legislators and state leaders. She began her higher education career as an institutional research analyst at Simmons College in Boston.

Syverud earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from Jacksonville University and a master’s degree in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania.

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When it’s time to lay down the law, college students have some friends in high places

College students have a powerful friend they may not know about when it comes to protecting their rights in a time of disruption for higher education: their state’s attorney general. Often dubbed “The People’s Lawyer,” the AG is the top legal officer in a state, representing the public interest— including the rights of students—in a variety of ways.