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Kim Acker Lipp, M.Ed. is the President & CEO of Jobs for Maine’s Graduates (JMG), Maine’s statewide nonprofit, focused on preparing Maine students for success in education and careers. After serving as its Executive Vice President for two decades, helping to guide JMG’s growth and innovation, Kim stepped into the role of President & CEO in January 2026. During her tenure, JMG has grown from serving 1,500 students annually to more than 13,000 students across Maine’s middle schools, high schools and college campuses.
Known for her ability to lead large-scale change, Kim’s work focuses on strengthening Maine’s education-to-workforce pipeline while positioning JMG’s competency-to-credential model as a national example of how schools can better prepare students for success in a skills-based economy.
Kim has played a central role in strengthening JMG’s model and expanding its influence beyond the students directly served by JMG. She led the work to transform JMG’s proven competency-based education approach into the first-in-the-nation comprehensive credentialing framework for middle and high school students: The GenUS Competency to Credential model. The framework translates demonstrated knowledge, competencies, and workplace behaviors into Skill Builders, micro-credentials and credentials aligned with employer needs and postsecondary pathways. The model leverages AI and rich metadata to document student learning and validate skills in ways that are transparent and portable in a skills-based economy.
Through the establishment of JMG’s partnering nonprofit, GenerationUS, this framework is capturing national attention and is beginning to be adopted by organizations in other states and by homeschooling networks seeking new ways to validate student learning and readiness for college and careers. The framework evens the playing field for traditionally marginalized students providing students with currency in a rapidly changing labor market while enabling educators and employers to better understand and value demonstrated competencies.
Lipp has extensive experience in organizational development across both nonprofit and for-profit sectors. She has served as the principal investigator and senior project facilitator for statewide and national strategic initiatives. Before joining JMG, Lipp worked in communications and broadcasting. Her career included roles with FNN, CNBC and Court TV. During that time she received a National Parents Choice Award, a Lamplighter Communications Award and an Emmy Award.
Today, Lipp continues to advance a vision in which every student’s learning is visible, valued and connected to opportunity.