Our Team

J.D. LaRock, J.D., Ed.D., is the President & CEO of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), a global  nonprofit organization that provides high-quality entrepreneurship education to middle school, high school, and young adult students from under-resourced communities. Previously, J.D. was the President and CEO of the Commonwealth Corporation, Massachusetts’ state authority for workforce development, a member of Northeastern University’s senior leadership team, and an education policymaker at the federal and state levels. During his tenure as CEO of Commonwealth Corporation, J.D led the $55 million organization to advance Massachusetts’ economic leadership through signature partnerships with employers, employees, educational institutions, and community- based organizations. Additionally, J.D. chaired Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s Commission on Digital Innovation and Lifelong Learning and was a member of the Aspen Institute’s Job Quality Fellowship Class of 2017-18.

As Senior Education Advisor to the late U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, J.D. helped lead the 2008 reauthorization of the federal Higher Education Act and the 2007 passage of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which provided $20 billion in financial aid to U.S. college students. As education policy director for former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, J.D. helped author Massachusetts’ application to President Obama’s “Race to the Top” competition, which secured $250 million for the state.

A scholar of education policy, higher education, and the future of work, J.D. is a member of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, Chair of the Board of Trustees at North Shore Community College, and a faculty member in Northeastern University’s Doctor of Law and Policy program. He earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees at Harvard, and his law degree from Georgetown.