Mary Laphen Pope serves as strategy officer for participation for Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all.
Laphen Pope joins us from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission where she has worked the last 6 years in positions of progressive responsibility, most recently as the Navigate Reconnect Director. In this role, Mary led a team to support the Tennessee Reconnect statewide initiative, which provides high-touch, wrap-around support to and through college to adult Tennesseans. Prior to her work with Tennessee, Mary worked at Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster, PA as a college adviser in the National College Advising Corps. Mary holds an M.Ed. in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University, and a B.A. in English from Gettysburg College.
