Jocelyn Bissonnette is the director of the Funders Census Initiative, a “working group” of the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation, which is a project of NEO Philanthropy, a fiscal clearinghouse for left-of-center causes.

Bissonnette has spoken at conferences about the census across the country, including Philanthropy Southwest,¹ the United Philanthropy Forum,² and the National Immigrant Integration Conference. ³

Bissonnette also sits on the advisory council of the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

Education

In 2009, Bissonnette attained a BA in economics and a minor in political science from the University of New Hampshire. In 2018, she earned a master’s in policy management from Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public policy. ⁴ Her MA focus was on the undercount of Alaskan Native Americans in the 2010 census. Bissonnette also completed a policy fellowship at the Institute for Educational Leadership,⁵ a left-of-center education advocacy group. ⁶

Career

In 2009, Bissonnette became a director of policy and advocacy at the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools, a nonprofit which advocates for public schools located on federal land and tribal land. In her role, Bissonnette lobbied for an increase in federal funding for the organization’s constituents and helped secure passage of the $14 billion Impact Aid program. ⁷ Bissonnette left the organization in 2018. ⁸

From 2010 through 2011, Bissonnette worked as an education policy fellow at the Institute for Education Leadership. ⁹

In 2017, Bissonnette began serving as the president of the Committee for Education Funding for a year. The nonprofit advocates for the federal government to take a larger financial and management role in K-12 education. ¹⁰

In 2018, Bissonnette began her current role as director of the Funders Census Initiative. ¹¹

Funders Census Initiative

As director of the Funders Census Initiative, Bissonnette rallies nonprofits to promote the census and maximize census taking. The federal census given each decade determines the disbursement of $800 billion¹² to $1.5 trillion annually across over 300 federal programs. ¹³ The Initiative establishes forums to discuss best practices, organizes census timelines for localities, and monitors U.S. Census Bureau operations. ¹⁴

The Funders Census Initiative claims that the 2020 Census will be the most difficult census ever due to five trends: increases in “hard-to-count” populations, increasingly complex and informal living arrangements, cyber security threats, federal funding “constraints,” and historically low levels of government trust. ¹⁵

1. “Speakers.” Philanthropy Southwest. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://www.philanthropysouthwest.org/events/2020-census-covid-19-what-funders-can-do-support-fair-and-accurate-count.
2. “Site Search.” United Philanthropy Forum. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://www.unitedphilforum.org/search?keys=jocelyn%20bissonnette.
3. “Bissonnette.” NIIC. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://niicnewamericandreams.org/speakers-3/bissonnette.
4. “Jocelyn Bissonnette” Linkedin. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-bissonnette-b8207717/.
5. “Jocelyn Bissonnette.” FCCP. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://funderscommittee.org/staff-board/jocelyn-bissonnette/.
6. “IEL Connection.” Coalition for Community Schools. Accessed April 26. 2020. http://www.communityschools.org/about/institute_for_educational_leadership_connection.aspx.
7. “Jocelyn Bissonnette.” FCCP. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://funderscommittee.org/staff-board/jocelyn-bissonnette/.
8. “Jocelyn Bissonnette” Linkedin. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-bissonnette-b8207717/.
9. “Jocelyn Bissonnette” Linkedin. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-bissonnette-b8207717/.
10. “Jocelyn Bissonnette.” FCCP. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://funderscommittee.org/staff-board/jocelyn-bissonnette/.
11. “Jocelyn Bissonnette” Linkedin. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-bissonnette-b8207717/.
12. “Funder Census Initiative 2020.” FCCP. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://funderscommittee.org/working-group/4/.
13. Hedin, Mark. “California lags behind national average on census.” Inquirer.net. Accessed April 25, 2020. https://usa.inquirer.net/53814/california-lags-behind-national-average-on-census.
14. “Funder Census Initiative 2020.” FCCP. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://funderscommittee.org/working-group/4/.
15. “Funder Census Initiative 2020.” FCCP. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://funderscommittee.org/working-group/4/.