Jessica Driver
Jessica Driver is a seasoned leader in federal fund oversight and grants management, with over a decade of experience governing large-scale, federally funded systems. Her career spans public health, emergency management, and crisis response, including architecting and building the grants management and fiscal governance structure supporting an $830M federally funded national crisis program and managing $300M+ international public health portfolios..
As Assistant Vice President of 988 Fiscal Strategy and Grants Management at Vibrant Emotional Health, she provides executive oversight of fiscal strategy, regulatory compliance under the Code of Federal Regulations, and audit readiness across complex funding environments exceeding $1B in federal funding.
In 2021, Jessica founded Trinity Acquisition Solutions, a principal-led advisory firm that helps mission-driven organizations align business operations, governance structures, and financial strategy. Her work empowers executive leaders and boards to clarify organizational priorities, strengthen operational discipline, and mitigate structural risk — without providing staff augmentation or implementation services.
She is a Certified Grants Management Specialist (CGMS) with additional expertise in governance architecture, process improvement, and federal acquisitions. Jessica holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Business Administration with a focus on federal acquisitions and public administration from Strayer University and is completing her Doctor of Public Administration (DPA) at Walden University. She has also enrolled in a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program, positioning her as a double doctorate scholar by 2027.
Passionate about building sustainable programs and transparent, equitable systems, Jessica combines strategic governance expertise with practical portfolio leadership to guide organizations in managing grants effectively and scaling their impact.
• Project Management Essentials Certified (PMEC)
• Strayer University - MBA
• Integrity Core Value Award
What do you attribute your success to?
Perserverance, hardward, goal-oriented, always learning.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Learn and be the area of expertise.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice for anyone coming into this field is not only learn grants from a foundational standpoint, but learn it from a structural standpoint. A lot of times, I see in the industry where there are leaderships that do not actually know what grants management is because they've never really encountered the skill set. People know what grants are, they know what program development is, but they don't actually know the grants skill set, and they're not aware of how many industries it actually touches. It's operations, it's programs, it's finance, it's accounting, it's personnel, it's HR. It's so much, and it's almost like a foundation for business. I want people to focus not just on building a foundation of understanding what grants is, but focus on how it structures out in different organizations. That helps strengthen them as they move up the ladder in leadership to understand how to set up operations, how to hire, how to reorganize alignment, how to set up business models, and things like that. It just strengthens their leadership, and it definitely leads into a path of COO, CFO, or CEO, or even Chief Program Officer. It opens up avenues, especially if you're learning it not from foundation, but structural.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The gaps really in the industry that I've worked to address in our processes and procedures fall within compliance with the Code of Federal Regulations. Not many folks know how to interpret, read, let alone interpret and provide guidance around them. The gap is definitely focused around that and how it applies to actually managing the award, but also how it applies to program development and architecture. There's a real need for people who can bridge that understanding between the regulations and the practical application in both award management and program development.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Giving my very best work, everyday, staying motivated, learning from others, making a difference.
Locations
Vibrant Emotional Health
New York, New York 10005