The Gore culture is world-renowned for the very special work environment it creates and the stellar business results that stem from this environment. Jane joined Gore as their first Global Diversity Champion in 2005 and began driving a ten+ year initiative that created a unique, relevant focus for Diversity at Gore: quite simply, that diversity and inclusion are critical ingredients for sustaining and evolving the Gore culture. Jane worked to help Associates at W.L. Gore from around the world understand the dynamics of “difference” and apply those insights to disrupt bias in day-to-day life.  In building an enterprise-wide strategy for Diversity & Inclusion, Jane focused on creating more individual and team capability for using identity differences productively.  She is known for asking Associates and teams if they "want to talk about that?" when challenging topics present; this approach is rooted in her belief that healthy dialogue can solve most things. 

In 2017, Jane formed and led (until July 2020) a new initiative supporting the evolution of Gore culture: the Associate Experience Team. The work of this group focused on supporting an enterprise-wide Brand & Culture renewal strategy; engaging thousands of Associates in experiences and conversations about how to work together in new ways to continue to fulfill the purpose driven business dreams of Gore's founders. The AX Team also created new and innovative mechanisms to define, create and measure Associate Engagement.

Prior to Gore, Jane spent 11 years at J.P. Morgan Chase in NYC. As part of the Corporate Diversity team, she had leadership responsibility for the diversity employee engagement and communication strategy. 

Jane has a BA, Justice and an MS, Organization Development, both from American University in Washington, DC. She lives in Newark (and part-time in Bethel, NY/Catskills) with her husband Michael Schmitt, a fellow social justice advocate, sometimes writer, and retired wine expert. Jane's 22-year old daughter, Maya Roche, is nearby in Wilmington, protesting for racial justice, safely negotiating covid19 life re-set and exploring her future!