Jennifer Driban

In her role as senior vice president and chief mission officer, Jen leads the National Aquarium's effort to grow conservation awareness while building meaningful relationships with community, government and conservation leaders. She oversees the Aquarium's government affairs strategy and conservation policy work, education programs and partnerships, and our learning and engagement programs which include the Aquarium's conservation education, tours and experiences, and guest engagement teams. By collaborating with local and regional conservation leaders, Jennifer and her team strategically grow the Aquarium's mission impact by advocating for innovative conservation policies and conducting effective conservation and educational programming that empowers people to take conservation action within their lives and communities.

Jennifer has extensive professional experience in strategic planning, consensus building, lobbying, community engagement, capital planning, fundraising, advocacy and policy development. Before joining the National Aquarium in 2016, Jennifer served as a member of Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger's senior staff where she acted as a representative and adviser, working in partnership with Maryland's federal delegation. She also has experience working for and with Maryland state government, the Maryland General Assembly, Baltimore City, and surrounding counties and municipal governments.

Jennifer serves on the boards of directors of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore and Emerge Maryland. She volunteers with various community nonprofit organizations and resides with her family in Baltimore City. She is an active alumna of the Professional Leadership Program for Women at Towson University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in political science and metropolitan studies. She also holds an MBA from the University of Baltimore.