Senior Vice President, Research and Policy
Beth Bean, Ph.D., NEFE's senior vice president of Research and Policy, oversees the portfolio of research, policy and advocacy to advance best practices to improve access, quality and impact of financial education at the systems level. Under her leadership, she has formalized and expanded the policy and advocacy work of NEFE, launched the Visiting Scholar program, advanced the research portfolio to expand on innovation and evaluation, revised the Five Key Factors for Effective Financial Education work and is collectively working to implement the new, revised version of NEFE’s strategic plan.
Prior to joining NEFE, Beth served as policy and research director/senior counselor to Colorado Governor Jared Polis. She managed a team overseeing a wide portfolio of issues for the 47th largest economy in the world. Before joining the Polis administration, Beth was vice president of national engagement, philanthropy, and policy at Strada Education Network and director of the Strada Institute for the Future of Work. In addition, she served as the chief strategic and research officer at the Colorado Department of Higher Education as well as having several leadership roles at both public and private institutions of higher education.
Beth is a first-generation student who received her doctorate in higher education from the University of Denver, her master’s degree from Saint Louis University and her bachelor’s degree from DePauw University in Indiana. In her free time, Beth enjoys spending time with her two daughters and dogs, coaching field hockey, running and working on home projects that never quite get finished.