Barbara Stewart

Barbara Stewart is passionate about service, leadership, philanthropy and life-long learning.  With nearly 40 years of public, private and nonprofit experience, Barbara provides significant perspective and strategic thinking to the organizations she leads, advises or serves.

Barbara served as the Presidentially-appointed, Senate confirmed CEO of AmeriCorps from 2018 through 2021. AmeriCorps is the $1.1 billion federal agency that supports service and volunteerism.  During her tenure, Barbara led the agency through a period of transition and transformation, addressing many of the agency’s long-standing operational challenges and preparing AmeriCorps for significant growth.  

Prior to leading AmeriCorps, Barbara held leadership roles in the private sector, including nearly a decade as Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase, and in Illinois state government. Barbara has extensive bipartisan experience working with elected officials at the federal, state and local levels. 

Barbara was elected to the Board of ZeroFox, a Nasdaq listed external cybersecurity company, in 2023 and served as the Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee Chair and a member of the Audit Committee until the company was acquired by Haveli Investments in May, 2024. 

Barbara and her husband Peter Bowe co-founded the Bowe-Stewart Foundation in 2012 with a focus on closing the opportunity gap and strengthening civic education and civil engagement.  The Foundation provides strategic guidance and financial support to organizations that share the goals of creating opportunity and strengthening civil society.  

Barbara earned a B.A. and M.B.A from Northwestern University, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Knox College. She has served on numerous non-profit Boards, and helped found a charter school in Chicago. She currently serves on the National Advisory Boards of Service Year Alliance and The Policy Circle, as a member of the University of Chicago Graham School Advisory Council and as a Trustee of the American Battlefield Trust and the Civic Federation of Chicago. Barbara was recently appointed to the Maryland Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism.