President and Founder

Jessica DeGroot is one of the nation's leading figures in the work/life field. Passionately committed to educating others about work and family issues and how these impact organizations, communities, parents and children, Jessica founded the ThirdPath Institute. Jessica and the work she has been doing at ThirdPath have been featured in national and local newspapers and radio shows, including Working Mother magazine, Fast Company magazine, Parenting magazine, the National Public Radio show The Parents Journal, and a number of local and regional cable and television shows. Jessica received her MBA from the Wharton School in 1994, where she was co-founder of the Wharton Work/Life Roundtable. She has been published in The Harvard Business Review, The American Woman 2003-2004: Daughters of a Revolution, and is co-author of the Wharton Work/Life Resource Guide. After receiving her B.A. from Hampshire College, Jessica managed a childcare resource and referral service and a then a work-life program for a bank. Jessica and her husband live in Philadelphia and share in the care of their two children.

Vice President of Programs

Communications Specialist

Joyce Fine has been working with Jessica DeGroot to convert ThirdPath Institute presentations and ideas into written form and is co-author of the tentatively titled forthcoming book Sharing Care: Building a Sustainable Family. Joyce brings a journalism background and ten years of publishing experience and psychology training to the ThirdPath Institute. Upon graduating from Hampshire College, Joyce was awarded a Threshold Grant to further pursue her senior thesis research on American Radio Coverage of the Holocaust. She has published and presented several academic presentations since then. She also appeared on WTVJ, an ABC-affiliate in South Florida, to discuss the impact of explicitly sexual news stories on children, and how such information can be processed with them. Joyce received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and her Masters Degree in School and Clinical Psychology at the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University.

Writer

Sean Romanoff graduated with B.A. with honors from the Ohio State University in 1990 and a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law - Newark in 1995. After graduating from Rutgers, Sean practiced law for three years as an associate with the Freehold, NJ firm of Sonnenblick, Parker and Selvers specializing in real estate, commercial, securities and litigation practice. Upon the birth of his son in 1998, Sean decided to leave the practice of law to become a full-time stay-at-home parent. Sean has continued in this role to this day, having added a daughter to his care in 2000. In Fall 2002, Sean became an Adjunct Professor of English at Fairleigh Dickinson University - Metropolitan Campus and teaches introductory composition and literature courses at the school.

Administrative Assistant

Ponscella Cousins has worked with the ThirdPath Institute since 2000, taking on an ever-increasing set of administrative responsibilities along the way. Her work at the Institute has included data-base management, transcription, bookkeeping, interviewing, as well as participating in a variety of additional projects. Prior to working with the ThirdPath, Ponnie worked as a supervisor and manager for marketing and retail companies, was a 51% owner of a small business, taught preschool at a Christian Academy, and counseled young African-American women around breast-feeding issues. Ponnie is a single mother who lives the concepts of the ThirdPath Institute; opting not to raise her daughter in the "traditional" style of many single parents - with a long day in school and using after-school programs - Ponnie changed her work/life balance in order to homeschool her child.

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