How Mentors and Instinct Shaped an Unconventional Higher Ed Career
Jennifer Desmarais, Senior Associate Director of Financial Aid at Emerson College in Boston, didn’t set out to work in higher education. She started her career in publishing, and when layoffs followed the industry’s post-9/11 downturn, she took a front-desk position at a local state college. A mentor there encouraged her to finish her undergraduate degree, opening a path into financial aid that would eventually take her far beyond campus.
Desmarais spent the next decade at the U.S. Department of Education’s Boston Regional Office, working across eligibility analysis, program review and compliance, and audit resolution—a rare, comprehensive view of Title IV oversight from the federal side. She has since returned to campus-based work at Emerson, supporting the college’s transition from Banner to Workday amid rising demand for higher-level financial aid support.
Throughout the conversation, Desmarais returns to the mentors who shaped her path—from the colleague who urged her to finish her degree, to supervisors who later pushed her toward leadership roles at professional conferences. That thread now shapes how she leads, treating team members with kindness and helping them find what they’re good at. Her advice: say yes to opportunities that make you nervous, and remember it’s okay to say no if one doesn’t work out.
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