In 2022 Jacob became the Program Assistant Director with The Partnership for Worker Education (PWE), Office of Human Resources at UMass Amherst. In July 2023 he became the Director of PWE - a collaboration among UMass HR and the staff unions (AFSCME, USA, PSU) providing services for the roughly 4,500 UMass Amherst staff members.
As Director he works closely with his counterparts to continue advancing innovative education, training, and career ladder opportunities for workers on campus. Upon becoming Director he said: “There is so much common ground on campus around the need for tailored education and training. I have also seen the importance of elevating the voice and visibility of workers on campus. I look forward to working with our partners to help make all of this happen.”
While finishing his dissertation Jacob co-founded and was project director for Building Bridges, an UMass Public Art and Engagement Initiative that draws on the power of solidarity and creative expression to bring people together and create a bridge across difference.
In 2015 he was awarded a Fulbright-Clinton fellowship during which he served as a technical assistant in the Guatemalan Ministry of Education for 11 months. His research and his work there focused on INGO participation in Guatemala’s National Reading Program, Leamos Juntos, and multi-stakeholder partnerships for education in Guatemala. The research later became the basis for his doctoral dissertation.
After finishing his Bachelor’s degree at UMass he decided to pursue a job in Latin America for a humanitarian aid organization. He discovered a program in Guatemala called Safe Passage that was in need of a coordinator to lead their library and literacy initiative for nearly 400 students in Guatemala City. Safe Passage works with at-risk children whose families survive by collecting and selling recyclables from the city dump. He worked with the organization as a Technical Consultant and served on their Board of Directors for six years.
In addition to his work on campus, he also serves as a board member for the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center in Holyoke, MA and SERES in Guatemala and El Salvador. Earlier from 2008 to 2012 he was the President and Founding Member of the Boston Friends of Safe Passage. Cultivating relationships with area affiliates and beginning the annual "Boston Esperanza 5K.” From 2012 to 2019 he served as the Communications Advisor to the Global Citizens Initiative.
Carter now lives with his wife Theresa and three boys in Conway, MA.[9-23]
Email: jacarter@umass.edu