Tessa McSweeney

Tessa McSweeney is the associate for the Building Bridges Program at the Doris Duke Foundation. In this capacity, she works to further the Building Bridges Program’s goal of increasing mutual understanding in a pluralistic society through supporting grantmaking efforts and program administration. 

Before joining the foundation, McSweeney worked in education. She served as the student services manager of academics at Achievement First Providence Middle in Providence, Rhode Island, where she supported students and educators by maintaining academic records, planning schoolwide testing and creating tracking systems. She also taught middle school science at the same location as a Teach For America corps member, utilizing data-backed educational theories to support student learning.

McSweeney earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, where she majored in political science and French, minored in art and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.