Betsy DeVos

Overview

Elisabeth “Betsy” Dee Prince DeVos (born January 8, 1958) is an American businesswoman, political fundraiser and education-policy advocate who served as the 11th U.S. Secretary of Education in President Donald Trump's administration from February 2017 until her resignation in January 2021. Previously, she chaired the Michigan Republican Party, the American Federation for Children and the Windquest Group. She is the sister of Erik Prince, the Blackwater founder. ^[ed]^[betbio]^[family]

Prince and DeVos families

DeVos was born in Holland, Michigan, to industrialist Edgar Prince and Elsa (Zwiep) Prince, a public-school teacher. Edgar established Prince Corporation in 1965, building a manufacturer of automotive interior parts that was acquired by Johnson Controls in 1996. Her younger brother, Erik Prince, later founded Blackwater in 1997. These companies belong to separate corporate histories; a sibling relationship does not make DeVos a Blackwater executive. ^[betbio]^[family]^[princeSec]

She attended Holland Christian High School and graduated from Calvin College in Grand Rapids in 1979 with a degree in business economics. She married Richard “Dick” DeVos Jr. in February 1979; together they have four children. Dick is the son of Richard “Rich” DeVos, who co-founded Amway with Jay Van Andel. This marriage connects two influential Michigan business families but does not merge their corporations or philanthropic funds. ^[betbio]^[miller]^{[amwayFounders]}

Windquest and business leadership

In 1989, Betsy and Dick DeVos established their separately held family investment group, Windquest Group, based in Michigan. Her professional biography lists her as Windquest president from 1993 to 1997 and chairman from 1993 to 2016. Dick's past executive positions included service as CEO of Amway from 1993 to 2002 and with the Orlando Magic. Roles at Windquest, Amway and their family foundation are different businesses and organizations. ^[betbio]^{[foundationOrg]}^[amwayCEO]

Republican Party leadership and political donations

DeVos was active in Republican politics from the 1970s, including volunteer work for Gerald Ford's 1976 campaign. She served as Michigan Republican Party chair from 1996 to 2000 and again from 2003 to 2005. The DeVos family donated substantial amounts to Republican candidates and organizations, but reporting and filing systems caution that gifts made by Dick DeVos Sr., Dick DeVos Jr., Betsy or other relatives must be attributed individually. ^[betbio]^[campaign]

Contemporaneous Michigan campaign-finance research recorded contributions by Betsy and Dick DeVos, her mother Elsa Prince Broekhuizen, and the elder Richard and Helen DeVos to the Great Lakes Education Project in the 2002 cycle. Those are documented contributions, not evidence that the recipients were all managed by the same person. ^[cfn]

School choice and education-policy organizations

DeVos supported charter schools, private-school vouchers, education savings and scholarship tax-credit programs. After a proposed Michigan voucher constitutional amendment failed in 2000, she became a leading figure in the Great Lakes Education Project; her own leadership chronology lists board chairmanship from 2001 to 2008. She chaired the American Federation for Children from 2009 to 2016 and the related Alliance for School Choice during the same period. Her arguments emphasized parental choice and access beyond neighborhood-assigned public schools. ^[betbio]^[choice]^[yes]

Critics, including teachers' unions and civil-rights organizations, raised concerns that voucher expansion could divert funding from public schools and reduce accountability, while proponents argued that portable education funds increased opportunities. These are policy disagreements with separately measurable outcomes, not facts established merely by her membership in an advocacy organization. ^[miller]^[yes]

Secretary of Education, 2017–2021

Donald Trump nominated DeVos on November 23, 2016. On February 7, 2017, the U.S. Senate confirmed her after Vice President Mike Pence cast a tie-breaking vote, the first vice-presidential tie-break to confirm a cabinet secretary. As the 11th education secretary, she advanced school-choice measures, changes to federal student-aid administration and a less expansive view of federal education oversight. ^[ed]^[miller]

Her department issued 2019 borrower-defense and gainful-employment changes and a May 2020 Title IX final rule addressing how covered schools handle sexual-harassment allegations and related due-process protections. The 2020 rule took effect August 14, 2020; later rules and court decisions changed the regulatory landscape. The historical 2020 text is not presented as an unchanged description of the law in 2026. ^[titleix]^{[titleixStatus]}^[depTitle]

January 2021 resignation

On January 7, 2021, following the attack on the U.S. Capitol, DeVos sent President Trump a letter resigning effective the following day. In the letter she criticized the Capitol violence and wrote that Trump's rhetoric had influenced the situation. Her resignation ended her cabinet tenure on January 8, 2021, before the change of administrations. This is her documented public position in January 2021, rather than an inference about every political decision made by her family. ^[resign]

Family foundation and philanthropic record

Betsy and Dick founded the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation in 1989. The organization's IRS record lists EIN 38-2902412, separate from Windquest's investment activities and from Erik Prince's security ventures. Its fiscal 2024 Form 990-PF shows approximately $2.96 million in revenue, $7.65 million in expenses, $7.31 million in charitable disbursements and $47.59 million in net assets. These figures apply to the 2024 organization return, not personal income or political-party contributions. ^{[foundationOrg]}^{[foundationIRS]}

Documented connections

Erik Prince — younger brother; born into the Edgar and Elsa Prince family; separate Blackwater business history.
Edgar Prince — father and Prince Corporation founder; Elsa Prince — mother and former schoolteacher.
Dick DeVos — husband; Richard DeVos Sr. — father-in-law; Amway — company co-founded by father-in-law, husband served as CEO.
Windquest Group — co-founded with husband, former executive chair.
Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation — co-founder and historical director, 1989 onward.
American Federation for Children — national chair, 2009–2016; Great Lakes Education Project — board chair, 2001–2008.
Donald Trump — nominated her as secretary and received her resignation, 2016–2021.
Blackwater — indirect sibling path only; this biography does not state DeVos directed, managed or funded it.