Chief Operating Officer
Jennifer Faust is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the McCain Institute at Arizona State University. As COO, Faust partners with McCain Institute’s Executive Director in leading fiscal and operational sustainability, future direction, and organizational growth. A former non-profit Executive Director/CEO and an international development and democracy specialist, Faust brings 30 years of hands-on grassroots and policy expertise in the U.S. and globally.
In her CEO and ED roles, Jennifer Faust has focused on growing organizations through business model and staff workforce transitions to align with current strategic direction. During her leadership at the University of Southern California-based think tank, the Pacific Council on International Policy, Faust led three strategic planning committees and the Steering Task Forces for strategy implementation. In 2017-2018, she led DEI governance and staff committees. Faust chaired a 2020-21 Business Continuity study to plan for post-COVID operations and sustainability.
Jennifer Faust has long been recognized for inspiring leadership and building diverse and inclusive world-class teams. Most recently as CEO of Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara, Faust transformed the organization from one primarily focused on meeting the direct needs of girls and teens to a more complex advocacy-oriented agency. Faust offers significant experience in international social justice and policy efforts, working on teams with the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Organization for American States (OAS) to secure economic and voting rights for women in Kosovo, among other countries. During volunteer service in the U.S. Peace Corps/ Haiti, Faust organized broad-based economic empowerment programs for women’s groups. Faust continues to consult and advise gender rights community groups and is a board member of the Women Connect4Good Foundation.
Jennifer Faust earned her B.B.A. cum laude at The George Washington University and holds an M.Sc. in Politics and Economics from The London School of Economics and Political Science with Distinction Honors for her dissertation on democracies in post-Soviet Europe. She became an International Coaching Federation-trained executive coach in 2018. Faust is a prolific writer on gender equity for girls and women, as well as economic and workforce issues. In her off hours, Faust enjoys rowing, running, vegetarian cooking and coaching others on finance and their professional and personal goals. Faust is tri-lingual in English, French and Haitian Creole and is increasing her professional fluency in both Russian and Spanish.
