Jess is an Alabama Gulf Coast native who earned a B.A. in Fine Arts and Business Administration from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. She has more than 12 years of diverse experience across the nonprofit sector and a strong lens for community and relationship building, mentorship and career cultivation, and small business operations. Jess also co-owns a cocktail catering business, STL Barkeep, with her partner and is from a family of entrepreneurs.

A champion of St. Louis and a community connector, Jess is excited to support VFA Fellows as they help grow the tech and startup ecosystem, start careers in entrepreneurship, and as they too, call St. Louis their home. She moved to St. Louis in 2011 and didn’t expect to stay long, especially after being asked so many times “where she went to high school.” However, she quickly fell in love with the city and all it has to offer its residents and visitors. Jess comes to Venture For America after working at the startup nonprofit, LaunchCode, founded by St. Louis entrepreneur Jim McKelvey where she assisted in growing the organization’s portfolio of corporate and foundation support.

Jess is also a community volunteer who serves as an Ambassador for the St. Louis Diaper Bank where she collects diaper and period supplies from within her neighborhood. She also enjoys being a mom (human and dog), art and music, spending time in local parks, cheering on the Blues and Cardinals, traveling, finding the best food in town, and drawing people’s beloved pets.