Former Chief Executive Officer, AmeriCorps
Co-Founder and Trustee, Bowe-Stewart Foundation
Barbara Stewart served as the CEO of AmeriCorps, the federal agency for service and volunteerism, from 2018 through 2021. She served on the Board of NASDAQ listed ZeroFox, a cybersecurity company from 2023 – 24. Barbara co-founded the Bowe-Stewart Foundation in 2012 with a focus on closing the opportunity gap and enhancing civic education and civil discourse. Earlier in her career, Barbara was a Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase and served in policy roles for Illinois Governor Jim Thompson and two Lt. Governors.
Barbara earned a B.A. and M.B.A from Northwestern University and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Knox College. She is a 1991 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, has held leadership roles on numerous civic and non-profit boards, and helped found the Christopher House charter school. Barbara is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, and currently chairs the University of Chicago’s Leadership & Society Initiative’s Advisory Board She serves on the Board of The Policy Circle and the National Advisory Board of Service Year Alliance. Barbara is a Trustee of the American Battlefield Trust and the Civic Federation of Chicago. She was recently appointed to the Maryland Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism.