Her Story
About Jessica
Jessica Jones serves as Director of Finance for a non-profit organization based in Chicago, Illinois. She is preparing for a promotion in September to Director of Finance and Operations, expanding her oversight to two departments. With 17 to 18 years of experience exclusively in non-profit work, Jessica brings a comprehensive educational background that includes an associate degree in paralegal studies, a bachelor's degree in management, an MBA from Louisville in Chicago, and a master's degree in accounting from Purdue Global. She is actively working toward obtaining her CPA license. In her role, Jessica collaborates with the CEO on donations, works with auditors and grantees, manages payroll through an outsourced firm, and ensures programming operates smoothly. She is recognized for her visionary approach to nonprofit growth, her skill in analyzing potential risks, and her ability to gain a broad view of organizational operations, which she finds fulfilling and comparable to traveling for cultural insight. Jessica attributes her professional success to her faith and her determination to build a legacy of abundance for her children, drawing from her own modest upbringing. She advises others not to give up on long-term goals, noting that time passes regardless, and encourages young women in the field by highlighting its rewarding, well-rounded nature.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jessica
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute it to my religion, and also having not had too much when I was younger, and not wanting that to be the story for my kids. I don't want that to be their story when they grow up, and they say, oh, we didn't have anything. No, we had everything, actually.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Don't give up, and also, it does not matter how long something takes, the time will go past anyway. So one of the things especially with school and trying to get my CPA license, just go, you know, just do it. It doesn't matter how long it takes. The time will come anyway.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
It can be very fulfilling. When you're in this type of role, especially if you're a busybody like myself, it becomes fulfilling because you get a view of almost everything that the business has at any company or any business have, whatever they have going on, you have a view into it, and it makes you well-rounded, so it's almost as though like traveling, right? You want to go to different countries and different places so that you can pick up culture, understand how people live, and that's how I feel about accounting and finance. You're able to go into different companies, different departments, and you're able to see how other people work.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
There's a shortage of accounting accountants and people who want to do this type of work, and so stuff being overwhelmed, because I have to do a lot of it when I want to do more of the oversight. Which is why we even decided to go with an accounting firm, but that also requires a certain level of doing, actual, you know, doing the actual work. So, I think that's the problem, is just finding the right help.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I am an avid reader. I love to read. I have a huge home library, and anytime that I sign to read, that is what I'm doing. I love to collaborate with different departments. I find myself being a huge visionary, and so, especially in the nonprofit world, we kind of have to with our programming, we want to visualize the growth. One of my specialties that everyone says about me is that I'm really good at analyzing possible risks, which is what helps us out a lot. So I'm always thinking of what could go wrong, so that we can avoid it.
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