Jennifer Sweeney is the Director of Quality Health Care at the National Partnership for Women & Families, a non-profit organization that, for 37 years, has worked to make life better for women and families. As the Director of Quality Health Care, Jennifer is responsible for engaging consumer stakeholders in the drive to improve heath care quality and increase transparency. This includes identifying, recruiting, and supporting consumer stakeholders as they engage in multi-stakeholder alliances and boards and bodies charged with improving health care quality. A central component of Jennifer’s work is overseeing the management of the Americans for Quality Health Care project, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Americans for Quality Health Care project provides tailored technical assistance to the 16 Aligning Forces for Quality multi-stakeholder Alliances, in particular ensuring that consumer stakeholders are fully engaged in shaping Alliance deliverables.
Prior to joining the National Partnership for Women and Families, Jennifer was the Director of Public Policy at Business and Professional Women/USA (BPW/USA). As the organization’s top policy advisor, Jennifer worked to advance BPW/USA’s agenda on Capitol Hill, throughout the executive branch, and in coalition with partners from the business, women’s, and civil rights communities. Jennifer was also responsible for the creation of education materials and resources on the organization’s policy priorities, conducting advocacy training, and organizing BPW/USA’s annual policy conference.
Before joining Business and Professional Women/USA, Jennifer was a Senior State Lobbyist with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the nation’s leading group of professionals providing health care for women. While at ACOG Jennifer led a successful campaign to increase the number of states with contraceptive equity laws, and developed tools and resources on the organization’s policy priorities.
Prior to her work at ACOG, Jennifer was a Senior Research Consultant with the Corporate Executive Board, where she conducted literature reviews and produced “best-practice” benchmarking reports on gender and diversity issues for Fortune 500 companies.
Jennifer sits on the Center for Medical Technology’s Patient Consumer Advisory Committee, AHRQ’s TalkingQuality website Editorial Board, the Joint Commission’s Patient and Family Advisory Board, and the Consumers United for Evidence-Based Healthcare Steering Committee.
Jennifer received a B.A. in English from Union College in Schenectady, New York and an M.A. in Women’s Studies from the George Washington University in Washington, DC. She is a frequent speaker on health care issues, with a particular focus on consumer stakeholder engagement strategies.