After two decades in politics and government, Jean spent eight years at  the Hewlett Foundation in Menlo Park, Calif., one of the largest grant-making foundations in the United States, where she managed a portfolio of grants related to strengthening U.S. democracy, with a particular emphasis on Congress and the executive branch.

Previously, Jean spent more than 20 years as a Congressional staff member for Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and others, serving as staff director of the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, the committee most involved in the administration of the Senate and oversight of legislative branch agencies, election law, and campaign finance.

At the Senate Rules Committee, Jean worked on campaign finance disclosure legislation, a new law to broaden access to voting for military and overseas voters, Senate rules and regulations including filibuster reform, improving election administration, streamlining the process for confirmation of presidential nominations, Senate operations and administration, and oversight for the Federal Election Commission and the Election Assistance Commission.

She also served as staff director of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which was responsible for all 2013 Presidential Inaugural events at the Capitol.

Jean got her start in politics as a student at Guilford with an internship in the Washington, D.C., office of the Congressman from Greensboro, who was then L. Richardson Preyer. 

As a playwright, Jean explores the intersection of history, politics, and personal ethics. Her most recent play, Now’s the Time, is about the political battle in Congress about voting rights and creating a new society of full racial equality during the early Reconstruction period.

After studying at Guilford, Jean attended Brown University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Classics in 1973. She received an MBA in International Business from George Washington University in 1982.

During the Guilford Forward Campaign that raised $6.7 million for the College in 2020-21, Jean served as a volunteer fundraiser on the Fundraising Challenge Team.

Jean comes from a long list of family members who attended Guilford, including three aunts, five uncles, and many cousins. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, the historian and author Fergus Bordewich. The couple has a daughter, Chloe La Verne Bordewich, a historian of the modern Middle East.

Guilford’s 23-member Board of Trustees is a governing body with oversight for fiscal and academic affairs and the overall welfare of the College.