Ms. Wendy Lang

Wendy began her career in New Jersey state government, serving as Senator John H. Ewing's Chief of Staff, staffing the Senate Education Committee, and later being appointed Governor Christie Todd Whitman's Education Policy Advisor. Since founding Operation College Promise (OCP) in 2008, she has managed all programming, research, outreach, public relations, and development. In this role, she developed one of the first websites for veterans and those who serve them, authored the nation's first comprehensive resource for veterans' service providers (The OCP Field Guide), and designed the Certificate for Veterans' Service Providers (CVSP) professional development program. – the nation's only national in-person certificate program designed by higher educators for higher educators. In 2011 and 2013, Wendy published landmark research on student veterans' progress toward degree attainment in the Post-9/11 era. In 2021, in partnership with the Texas A&M University System, she released a third "Completing the Mission" report on the COVID pandemic's effects on student veterans. Today, Wendy works with policymakers nationwide to develop and disseminate initiatives supporting veterans' education and employment opportunities.

Wendy leads the George W. Bush Institutes' Higher Education and Employment Task Forces, where she focuses on efforts to optimize student veterans' postsecondary success and reduce barriers to employment in high-demand fields

Wendy regularly presents at national conferences as a subject matter expert in best practices to support the military-affiliated student population. She currently serves on the Stockton University Veterans' Advisory Board and was named "Advocate of the Year" award in 2017. She was a contributing author to What's Next for Student Veterans, published by the National Resource Center in 2019. Her work with OCP has been highlighted in" The New York Times, USA Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Chronicle on Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, Military Advanced Education, NBC, Fox News, NPR, and CNN, among others. She is an Honorary Commander Emeriti at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

Wendy received her BA in Political Science and MA in International Relations from Drew University, where she co-founded the John H. Ewing Center for Public Policy. She is a lifelong competitive equestrian with perennial state and national ranking. She resides in a Revolutionary-era home in the historic City of Burlington with her Jack Russell Terrier, Austin.