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A resident of East Greenwich, Jean Ann Guliano is a marketing writer by trade and currently serves as the Chairman of the East Greenwich School Committee. She also serves on the Executive Board of the Rhode Island Association of School Committees. The proud mom of two sons, Neil, 17, and James, 13, she has always been an advocate for children and particularly children with special needs. In the past she has served on the Rhode Island Special Education Advisory Committee, the Board of the Autism Society of Rhode Island and chaired the local East Greenwich Advisory Committee. She is also an active member of St. Luke’s Church in East Greenwich.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Jean Ann lived in Georgia, Delaware, Florida and Ohio before making Rhode Island her home. Her father, James Willard, was an executive with the Dupont Company and she points to him as the most important influence in her life. “He always taught me to be prudent but compassionate,” she says. “He lived his life that way and I try, every day, to do the same.” After graduating from Concord High School in Wilmington, Delaware, Jean Ann attended the University of Delaware as a theater major and pursued a brief theater career before transferring to Cleveland State University where she graduated with honors and a B.A. in Communications. While in Cleveland, she worked as a media planner at Wyse Advertising and eventually became National Media Manager for the Sherwin-Williams Company.
After marrying advertising executive, Neil Guliano in 1991, and having two sons, the family moved to Rhode Island in 1997 when her husband was offered a position with CVS. As a stay-at-home mom when her sons were young, Jean Ann continued to use her media and marketing skills to help and promote various local and charitable organizations. When her youngest son was diagnosed with autism in 1998 Jean Ann was compelled to become a volunteer advocate and lobbyist at both the state and national level for the causes of autism, special needs children and other educational issues. This lead to her involvement in local politics and she subsequently ran and was elected to the East Greenwich School Committee in 2006. She became Chairman in 2008.
Jean Ann’s focus on the School Committee has been fiscal transparency, respect, collaboration and creating a safe and positive learning environment for students. She advocated for the establishment of an independent Finance Committee to advise on budgetary matters and created an open budget process where taxpayers, teachers and town officials could observe and participate in building the school department’s budget. She has also served on the Contract Negotiations Committee, Finance Committee, Policy Committee and Mental Health Sub-Committee. She continues to be involved in promoting programs for at-risk youth, testifying on behalf of school issues at the General Assembly and stays involved with the PTGs at her son’s schools. Most recently, she organized a Regional School Committee Roundtable bringing together School Committee chairs and members from Kent County, Washington County and Jamestown in order to
explore ways of collaborating and sharing services across districts.
Now, as a single mom and a constant advocate for her sons and other children, education and fiscal management issues have been Jean Ann’s primary focus both personally and as a School Committee member. She is deeply committed to public service and helping others. As she has said on numerous occasions, “To me it’s not about obligation or ego, it’s about doing what I can for others because it’s the right thing to do.”
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