EDUCATION
Education has been a through line in Tom's life. He has built a large network over the years and is driven to help those within his network share insights and help one another. Tackling climate and sustainability will require education of policymakers, investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, vendors and consumers.
Tom Hopcroft & family during school committee campaign
After more than twenty years of bringing people together
-- often direct competitors -- around common interests, Tom decided to enter a contested election for a seat on his town's local school committee. He was elected to serve in 2021, became Vice Chair in 2022, Chair in 2023, and was re-elected in 2024. An advocate for climate action, he served as Chair during the groundbreaking on the town's first all-electric, net zero building, the Lynch Elementary School. He is building relationships with local officials and community leaders, engaging in a civil discourse, and participating in consequential policy-making to help all our children better access a meaningful education. Learn more.
For many years, Tom has led an annual delegation of tech leaders to Washington, DC, in coordination with his counterparts nationwide. In 2017, he advocated for a tech apprenticeship bill that would provide an alternate pathway for those seeking to break into tech careers but were not college bound. This sparked the interest of Congressman Seth Moulton who became the lead sponsor of the CHANCE in TECH Act, which eventually passed the House of Representatives in February 2021. If passed by the Senate, the bill would provide funding and create opportunities for potential workers to learn the skills they need and find their pathway into the hot tech job market. Learn more.
Tom Hopcroft hosts Congressman Seth Moulton and business leaders
Talent is fuel for innovation and, amidst today's great resignation, companies recognize that investing in their teams is a smart way to build loyalty and upskill talent. In 2019, Tom created the Board-Ready Bootcamp to improve board governance and composition. He recruited leaders from HBS, PWC, Russell Reynolds, as well as many CEOs and board members with board experience. With a combination of plenary sessions and mentoring, the program has received two national awards for innovation in DEI. Learn more.
Award-winning Board-Ready Bootcamp
In 2014, Tom was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick and later reappointed by Governor Charlie Baker to the state's 13-member Board of Higher Education, where he chaired the Fiscal and Administrative Policy Committee and served on the Executive Committee. In that role, he conceived and pitched an innovative new partnership between North Shore Community College and Uber, which today helps students get to school and access their education. Learn more.
Joint meeting of the Mass. Board of Higher Education with the Board of Elementary & Secondary Education
In 2019, Tom stood with Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz in advocating for equitable education reform funding as part of what became the Student Opportunity Act. The bill implements all of the recommendations of the bipartisan Foundation Budget Review Commission which found that the state was drastically underestimating the cost of K-12 education, and disproportionately so for low-income students and English learners. The bill also corrects the state’s K-12 funding formula, and is set to deliver $1.5 billion in state aid, ending decades of underfunding for the Commonwealth’s poorest students. Learn more.
Tom Hopcroft speaking at press event with Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, Mayor Marty Walsh, and other education reform advocates