Before retiring in 2018, Gretchen Koch, Advisory Board, was responsible for CompTIA’s Creating IT Futures Foundation’s IT workforce development and education initiatives. She joined the foundation in 2014, after 11 years of developing national workforce initiatives for CompTIA, where she parlayed her knowledge of the industry and educational systems to become a nationally known change agent for IT workforce development.

Gretchen worked closely with the U.S. Department of Education on its Certification Data Exchange Project and led efforts with the State of Illinois and the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance to develop and promote IT career pipelines in the state. She has also been the National IT Career Cluster Leader for the States’ Career Clusters Initiative and the Lead Entity for the IT Learning Exchange for Illinois’ Race to the Top Pathways Initiative.

When she was not working from the Foundation’s headquarters in Downers Grove, IL, she spent a great amount of time in Los Angeles, working with local leaders in education and workforce development. She currently sits on the Board of the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) Education Foundation, serving as its Secretary and member of the Executive Committee.

Before joining CompTIA and its foundation, Gretchen had more than 20 years of experience in IT management at Digital Equipment, Compaq, and Hewlett-Packard corporations. Her most recent position in the IT Industry was as national education manager, Global Services Division at Compaq & Hewlett-Packard Corporation.

Gretchen is a graduate of the University of Michigan, with honors, and holds a MAT from Harvard Graduate School of Education and an MBA from Simmons Graduate School of Business.