Dr. Jesien served as Executive Director of AUCD from July 1, 1999 - September 29, 2013. His experience includes extensive administrative and supervisory responsibility, most recently as the Executive Director of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation since 1997. In this role, he directed and managed Foundation activities, including national grants management, the public policy fellowship program, the associate trustee program and fiscal management of an annual budget of approximately $2.6 million.

He served as a Principal Investigator for a series of federal, state and locally funded projects in personnel preparation, research, materials development, outreach, direct services and information dissemination via the Internet at the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison between 1989 and 1997. In addition, Dr. Jesien was awarded a one-year Kennedy Foundation Public Policy Fellowship in 1994 to work with the Senate Subcommittee on Disability Policy with Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa.

Dr. Jesien has traveled extensively providing technical assistance for disability programs in Europe, North and South America and Asia.