“We can accomplish so much more by working thoughtfully together than we ever could on our own.”
As a Proposal Specialist, Jess works across teams within Campbell & Company to help create compelling proposals and presentations that engage and inform potential clients about how working with Campbell can help move their mission forward.
Jess believes community-based innovation can untangle even the most persistent social problems, and that healthy, compassionate nonprofit organizations are the key to unlocking our collective power. With nearly two decades of work as a theater artist and nonprofit arts administrator, Jess is a collaborative facilitator who believes that teamwork does, in fact, make the dream work.
For five years, Jess served as the artistic director of New Leaf Theatre and is proud to have spent those formative years learning from peers and partners in Chicago’s resourceful and inventive storefront theater community. She has a particular passion for developing new plays, working directly with playwrights to help make what’s on the page reflect the writer’s most ambitious vision. She has also been on the education and community programs staffs of Goodman Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Theater & Performance Studies at the University of Chicago.
Jess earned an MFA in theater directing from the University of Texas at Austin before spending a season as the National New Play Network (NNPN) Producer-in-Residence for Dallas’s Kitchen Dog Theater. She then worked with NNPN as a communications consultant before joining the team full time as Engagement Director. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jess led the effort to create weekly virtual opportunities for Member Theater staffers to connect, commiserate, and – ultimately – share support and strategies. She also worked as a primary fundraiser for the organization, writing successful grant applications and cultivating five-figure gifts from major donors.
After recently completing her MA in Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management from the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, Jess is delighted to join the mission-driven, passion-fueled team at Campbell & Company. A proud resident of Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, Jess enjoys spending time with her husband and their two cats. She also loves to visit Chicago’s excellent museums (especially the Art Institute and the Chicago History Museum) as well as reading, knitting, and perfecting her cat-based photography.
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