OXFORD HILLS — Imagine having a list of clients that includes Facebook, Uber, Zillow, Square, Stich Fix, Teleflora, Pinterest, Trulia, Airbnb, Dropbox, Etsy and Audubon. The list goes on, full of popular companies of today’s movers and shakers.
In a perfect example of SAD 17’s Aspire Higher philosophy, Norway’s Jana Rich graduated Oxford Hills High School in 1985, earned a BA in psychology from Vassar College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
She is now one of Silicon Valley’s top recruiters.
Sole partner in the Rich Talent Group, Rich, 50, worked much of her career as a recruiter at major firms like Russell Reynolds Associates and Korn Ferry International.
She serves as director of the Stanford Business School Women’s Initiative Network. She is also a mentor in the Women’s eCommerce Network sponsored by Liberty Media. She served on the board of BringChange2Mind, a nonprofit organization founded by the actress Glenn Close. Rich has been honored three times by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business.
This year she was inducted to the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Alumni Association’s Hall of Honor. She is the second to be inducted for the fledgling honor. The first inductee was Robert Campbell, Class of 1987, last year.
“She is a leader in the business world,” says OHCHS Principal Ted Moccia, “and a powerful woman … she’s done some great things.” The district is proud of her, Moccia noted.
“I’m deeply humbled by this recognition,” Rich said from California. “Maine and the community of Norway helped to shape me in ways large and small and to this day, I routinely draw upon what I learned during my time there.”
Rich said, “I can’t thank [the Alumni Association and the school] enough for this honor.”
Potential inductees are chosen from nominations ,which can be made by anyone. A nomination should include how the nominee contributed to society and is continuing to contribute, as well as what they did while they were in school in the district.
Nor do they have to have been an exceptional student, notes Moccia and Oxford Hills Technical School Director Shawn Lambert. In fact, they could have been a “problem child” as long as they have turned things around.
“It is not about where you were but where you are now,” says Moccia.
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