Jess has served as Director of Entrepreneur Recruitment at Arch Grants for two years, leading the efforts on outreach and marketing for the annual Startup Competition, as well as stewarding the competition process itself. Prior to her work at Arch Grants, Jess organized conferences and other events for mortgage cooperative Lenders One from 2016 - 20121, and she began her career at the World Affairs Council of St. Louis, where she spent nearly 10 years leading programming for State Department-sponsored international visitors and for St. Louisans interested in international relations. She's also served as an adjunct professor at Webster University since 2015, where she teaches media literacy. Jess graduated from Saint Louis University with a double bachelor's degree in International Studies and Sociology, and she earned her Master's in Public Relations at Webster University.