Jenna Gifford
Valley
Summary
Strategic leader in government relations and state partnerships with 25 years of experience in education, including classroom teaching, education sales, and senior policy leadership. Demonstrated success in securing high-impact approvals and influencing policy to drive revenue growth in complex state environments. Expertise in building strong government partnerships and aligning cross-functional teams to enhance instructional improvement and achieve organizational goals.
Overview
28
28
years of professional experience
Work History
Regional Vice President, State Solutions
Curriculum Associates
03.2024 - Current
Regional Vice President, Government Relations
- Design and execute multi-state government relations and business development strategy to influence education policy, procurement environments, and adoption pathways, expanding market access and supporting long-term growth.
- Influence legislation by partnering with contract lobbyists and delivering data-driven briefings to policymakers and senior education leaders, reducing policy risk and strengthening positioning for emerging initiatives.
- Manage external lobbying partners and regional advocacy strategy to ensure consistent execution across priority markets.
- Lead successful outcomes in high-risk state adoption and approval cycles, securing placement on core instructional programs and approved state lists by navigating regulatory complexity, compressed timelines, and competitive procurement environments.
- Drive recovery and retention of adoption opportunities by resolving approval challenges, aligning internal teams, and strengthening positioning to maintain access to large-scale statewide implementations.
- Secure continued product approval across recurring review cycles by rebuilding stakeholder trust and aligning organizational strategy to evolving technical and regulatory requirements.
- Build and maintain executive-level relationships with education agencies, policymakers, boards, and associations, serving as a trusted advisor on assessment and instructional policy.
- Translate complex legislation and funding policy into actionable insights for sales, product, research, and executive leadership teams to accelerate go-to-market execution.
- Develop executive briefings and stakeholder materials to support senior leadership engagement.
- Navigate complex political environments while strengthening cross-functional collaboration and delivering measurable business impact.
Director of State Business Development
New Meridian
10.2023 - Current
- Led strategic initiatives to enhance organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
- Enhanced stakeholder engagement through effective communication strategies.
- Analyzed data to inform decision-making and strategic direction.
Regional Vice President, State Partnerships
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
07.2022 - 10.2023
- An accomplished sales leader with strong interpersonal skills and over 25 years experience in the field of education.
- Experienced in implementing revenue-generating success strategies, managing complex sales cycles and engaging with all levels of stakeholders, including government officials.
- Skilled at building and maintaining trusting relationships, both internally and externally, that drive collective success towards development and growth.
- Develop and implement strategic plans to ensure organizational goals are met.
- Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders such as department of education leaders and other state-level groups.
- Execute strategic state plans to identify and qualify large scale state opportunities.
- Lead complex sales opportunities involving multiple decision makers at the state and district level.
- Manage sales strategy through the pursuit and proposal process on complex bids.
- Communication regularly between departments to improve cross-functional collaboration.
- Responsible for the development, execution and support of relationships and sales at the state level.
- Built and maintained relationships with key SEA staff, state board members, national education associations, legislators, and governors' offices.
- Tracked state legislation and political climate for opportunities and barriers as it relates to state business.
- Developed and executed strategic state plans to identify and qualify large scale state opportunities.
- Managed contracted lobbyists to ensure alignment with state strategic plans.
- Led sales strategy through the pursuit and proposal process on complex bids.
- Responsible for ongoing renewals, modifications and expansions of current contracts.
- Drove growth through strategic pricing, marketplace strategies, and solution development throughout the entire sales cycle.
- Established and cultivated a network of key contacts at the state level to grow and develop business.
- Formerly NWEA
Senior Director, State & Gov't Affairs
NWEA
10.2021 - 07.2022
Executive Account Manager, State & Gov't Affairs
NWEA
03.2018 - 10.2021
- Served as the organization's 'relationship lead' for current state programs and new business.
- Developed and executed strategy to influence state-level assessment programs prior to and throughout the RFP release and response process.
- Acquired and demonstrated an understanding of the state's procurement process and led response efforts to conclusion.
- Analyzed customer needs and created strategies to address them through partnerships to ensure contractual delivery on a $7M annual contract.
- Participated in regional and national education organization events to position the organization among state leaders.
- Graduate of NWEA's Leadership Academy.
- Lead and engaged in strategic conversations with high-level stakeholders.
- Lead efforts in annual renewal of statewide contracts and identified the need for potential scope changes.
- Conducted partner needs analysis for professional learning and established a long-term plan to support overall success.
- Served as a state liaison for internal cross-functional teams across the organization.
- Achieved enrollment, renewal and expansion targets as defined by annual goals.
- Developed extensive experience in Salesforce and represented the team as a Salesforce Champion.
- Successfully managed 245 accounts across three states.
- Collaborated with internal team members including marketing, technical support, content, research teams, product development and program management to meet the needs of partners.
- Met and exceed annual goals for product retention, and expansion as well as professional learning sales each year.
- Informed RFP process that resulted in a statewide contract award.
- Facilitated data conversations with district leaders to support instructional and program decisions.
- Delivered and supported ongoing professional learning districtwide.
- Led training and implementation of curriculum and assessment districtwide.
- Organized and used variety of teaching techniques, maximizing individual and group learning.
- Developed and maintained classroom environment conducive to learning and appropriate for social and emotional development of students.
- Mentor teacher to many new educators and student teachers.
Curriculum Coordinator/Instructional Coach
Fremont Public Schools
Fremont
06.2009 - 07.2015
- Evaluated instructional materials for effectiveness and relevance.
- Coordinated professional development workshops for teaching staff.
- Implemented assessment tools to measure student learning outcomes.
- Researched best practices in curriculum design and implementation.
- Oversaw curriculum review cycles to ensure continual improvement.
Classroom Teacher
Fremont Public Schools
Fremont
08.1998 - 06.2009
- Developed engaging lesson plans aligned with state standards and student needs.
- Implemented assessment tools to evaluate student progress and adjust instruction accordingly.
- Received recognition for contributions to innovative concepts in classroom instruction.
Education
Masters of Education - Curriculum and Instruction
Doane University
Crete, Nebraska01.2001
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) - Elementary Education
University of Nebraska
Lincoln, Nebraska01.1998
Skills
- Strategic networking
- Relationship management
- Interpersonal communication
- Complex sales strategies
- Presentation delivery
- Results orientation
- Legislative analysis
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Strategic planning
Timeline
Regional Vice President, State Solutions
Curriculum Associates
03.2024 - Current
Director of State Business Development
New Meridian
10.2023 - Current
Regional Vice President, State Partnerships
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
07.2022 - 10.2023
Senior Director, State & Gov't Affairs
NWEA
10.2021 - 07.2022
Executive Account Manager, State & Gov't Affairs
NWEA
03.2018 - 10.2021
Curriculum Coordinator/Instructional Coach
Fremont Public Schools
06.2009 - 07.2015
Classroom Teacher
Fremont Public Schools
08.1998 - 06.2009
Masters of Education - Curriculum and Instruction
Doane University
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) - Elementary Education
University of Nebraska