groff was raised in warren, vermont, and graduated from harwood union high school he is a 1986 graduate of yale university, and attended the kennedy school at harvard university, receiving a two-year master in public administration in 1996. he received the pearson–ft non-executive director srf btec level 7 diploma in 2015 and is a phd candidate in the faculty of social sciences, graduate school of environmental management at erasmus university in the netherlands.