Andrea Comer, a veteran of Hartford city politics and until last summer an administrator of the FUSE charter school management group, has been named executive director of an education foundation for the state’s largest business association.
The foundation works to develop a skilled workforce for Connecticut employers.
The Connecticut Business and Industry Association announced Comer’s appointment Thursday.
“We’re incredibly pleased to have Andrea lead our efforts in developing a skilled, knowledgeable workforce,” President and CEO Joe Brennan said in a written release. “Andrea’s role is to help educators and industry work together in identifying employment needs and creating curriculum so that when students graduate, they can enter the workforce right away.”
Comer replaces Judy Resnick, who has led the foundation for six years and will retire in early spring after a total of 16 years with the CBIA, the organization said.
Comer has been a member of the Hartford Board of Education and the State Board of Education. The CBIA said she was also an officer for The Community Foundation of Greater New Haven and a consultant on youth initiatives for the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. She was once a spokeswoman for former Mayor Eddie A. Perez.
Comer was chief development officer of FUSE before last summer, when she became one of a number of executives to leave the group, which came under state investigation for questionable spending practices and other issues. She resigned from the State Board of Education a short time later, saying she did not want her former affiliation with FUSE to become a distraction.
