Jane Warne Waite

"What if…the American education project was infused at every level with more curiosity, and

less judgement?"

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Jane Warne Waite cares deeply about community-building; she has spent many years teaching, advocating, and engaging for a socially just world with an emphasis in Oregon’s public education system. As a public employee and as a private consultant, Jane has supported organizations across Oregon and beyond to effectively embed authentic equity and inclusion into their practice and policy as a means for holistic growth and improvement.

In 2006, Jane became the first Educational Equity Specialist at an Education Service District in Oregon, at Lane ESD, providing support to 16 school districts in a county the size of Connecticut. Working in coalition with other leaders around the state, Jane helped establish educational equity as a priority for all Oregon schools. There are now Equity Directors at most ESDs in Oregon, and reducing the disparate outcomes for Oregon students is a high priority for the Oregon Department of Education. She chaired the Lane County Equity and Community Consortium, the Board of Visitors at Oregon State University, and the Eugene School District Equity Committee; Jane has served on the UO College of Education Community and Diversity Committee, and the State Steering Committee of the Oregon Leadership Network. From 2015-2026 Jane was the Senior Associate for Social Justice Learning & Engagement at Oregon State University, where she launched and directed the innovative Social Justice Education Initiative for OSU faculty and graduate students.

Elected repeatedly to the OSU faculty senate by her peers, Jane served on the faculty senate executive committee as well as the advisory committee for the Native American Longhouse Eena Haws and as the representative for faculty and staff on the Presidents Commission for Indian Affairs. Currently, Jane is engaging in select consulting opportunities. Exploring the natural world and spending time with her family, often at the same time, feeds her soul.