Executive Director Betty Schweizer

Betty Schweizer was appointed chief executive officer of TIES, a leading education technology provider owned by 38 Minnesota school districts, on July 1, 2005. Prior to that, she had been co-executive director since 2000 with Lee Whitcraft, who retired June 30, 2005.

As co-executive director, Schweizer led the operations of TIES student, finance and human resources applications, spearheading a three-year development of web-based systems. Under her direction, TIES integrated its applications in 2004 with a leading performance management system used by most Fortune 500 companies to track and deliver results. She also negotiated the sale of TIES student information system to a national software marketer, the largest sale in TIES history.

Schweizer played a critical role in establishing TIES long-range strategic plan to align services with member needs based on extensive input from district stakeholders. In addition, she oversaw the move of TIES headquarters to the historic Grain Terminal Association building on Larpenteur and Snelling Avenues and established an education center that houses a number of academic associations and organizations. In 2003, the Twin Cities Business Journal named Schweizer one of 25 Women Changemakers.

Schweizer joined TIES in 1990 as director of finance and human resources, where she was responsible for administration services, including accounting and financial services, software development and customer support for TIES applications. She managed the production of timely payroll for districts, amounting to over 1.5 million checks each year. Schweizer played a key role in developing a new strategic direction for TIES that resulted in a doubling of revenues in five years.

Before joining TIES, Schweizer held several top financial management positions with CPT Corporation, an Eden Prairie-based office automation company.

Schweizer was born January 1951 and grew up in St. Paul, where she now lives with her husband and two children; they also have one son in college. She received a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota and a master's from the University of St. Thomas.