[3] Swenson was the executive director of Copper Canyon Press, and edited and designed books.
[2] In April 2002, Swenson was appointed as executive director of the Academy of American Poets and led this non-profit organization for ten years.
[5] In March 2012, after serving a decade in the latter position,[6] she moved on to become the executive director at Richard Hugo House, a writing non-profit in Seattle named for esteemed poet Richard Hugo[7] where she served for nearly nine years.
Before resigning as its executive director in February 2021,[8] Swenson's leadership at Hugo House had been publicly scrutinized,[9] most notably in an open letter[10] signed by prominent writers of color, including Washington's former Poet Laureate, Claudia Castro Luna, and signed by 120 Hugo House students, teachers, members, and fellows.
Besides living in Montana and Santa Barbara, she has also resided in Denver, CO, Port Townsend, WA, and Boston, MA.