Claire Ramsbottom

Claire A. Ramsbottom is Executive Director of Colleges of the Fenway, Inc. (COF) in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1996, she was hired to help create the newly formed COF. Formally incorporated in 2003, COF is a collaboration among five Boston institutions of higher education (Emmanuel College, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, MCPHS, Simmons University, and Wentworth Institute of Technology) formed to enhance opportunities for students and find ways to mitigate the rising costs of higher education. She works closely with the institutions’ presidents and senior leadership in identifying and implementing opportunities to strengthen the individual institutions and the collective through collaboration.

Prior to joining COF she worked in higher education administration for 15 years at SUNY Cortland, Simmons University and Wheaton College and as a recruiter in private industry. While at Wheaton she was extensively involved in the college’s transition from an all-women’s college to a coeducational institution.

She earned a BA from Framingham State University, where she has served on the alumni board, and M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from Springfield College (MA).  She also serves as a staff associate focused on organizational development for her local church. She is certified in mediation, DiSC Indra and the Myers Briggs Type Inventory.

She serves as a member of the Board Directors of the Association for Collaborative Leadership (ACL) and served as the organization’s president for eight years. She co-authored chapters in two ACL publications including Best Practices in Higher Education Consortia: How Institutions Can Work Together and Pushing the Boundaries of Collaboration: What Consortia Can Accomplish.  She is a founding faculty member of the ACL Summer Institute and frequently consults on collaborations and higher ed. consortia.  She and her husband have three grown children and one grandchild.