Jane Sanders

Sanders was born Mary Jane O'Meara on January 3, 1950, and grew up in Brooklyn, New York City, as one of the five children of Bernadette Joan (Sheridan) and Benedict P. O'Meara.[4][5] She is of Irish descent and was raised Catholic.[6][2] She attended Catholic schools, including Saint Saviour High School, before attending the University of Tennessee. O'Meara dropped out of school and moved back to Brooklyn with her first husband, David Driscoll.[1] In 1975, they moved to Vermont when Driscoll's employer, IBM, transferred him. The couple divorced in 1980. She has three children (Heather Titus,[7] Carina Driscoll,[8] and David Driscoll[9]) from her marriage with Driscoll, who were later adopted by Sanders.[10][11]

O'Meara finished her college degree at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont, with a bachelor's in social work.[1] She met Bernie Sanders in 1981, ten days before his first campaign victory as Mayor of Burlington, and again at his victory party; the couple married in 1988.[1]

In 1996, she earned a doctorate in leadership studies in politics and education from Union Institute & University headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.[1][12][13]

Sanders is Roman Catholic.[14] She does not regularly attend Mass, but sometimes visits Saint Anne's Shrine when facing problems.[14]

Early in her career Sanders worked in the Juvenile Division of the Burlington Police Department, and then as a community organizer with the King Street Area Youth Center, and as a volunteer for AmeriCorps VISTA.[1]

From 1981 to 1991, Sanders served as founding Director of the Mayor's Youth Office and Department Head in the City of Burlington. She was also active in K-12 education, elected as a School Board Commissioner, and was a founding member of the Women's Council & the Film Commission. In 1991, her husband, Bernie Sanders, was elected to the U.S. Congress. From 1991 to 1995, she worked in his office on a volunteer basis.[15]

In 1996, Sanders was appointed as Provost and Interim President of her alma mater, Goddard College, to help the college through a difficult period. The Board, faculty, staff, students and Sanders worked together to improve the accreditation, finances and governance of the institution.[15]

From 2004 through 2011, Sanders was President of Burlington College, a small liberal arts college founded in 1972 for non-traditional students. It closed due to financial problems in 2016.[16]

As senior partner in the Burlington-based consulting firm, Leadership Strategies, O'Meara worked as a political and educational consultant for federal, state, and local political campaigns.[17]

Sanders was instrumental in founding The Sanders Institute, a progressive think tank which launched in June 2017, and is one of its 11 original fellows. Like the other fellows, she does not receive payment for her work, although she does receive compensation for travel expenses.[3]