Board of Alumni

Jessica Stern

Class of 2004
Portland, OR

Jessica Stern is the Program Manager at Business for Culture & the Arts (BCA), a local nonprofit organization whose mission it is to connect business and the arts to strengthen Oregon’s culture and economy. At BCA, Jessica is responsible for planning and implementing programs that engage and prepare business professionals from BCA’s 180 local member companies to become active leaders and advocates in the nonprofit arts and culture community.

Jessica manages BCA’s networking and membership development events, including BCA’s signature event the Arts Breakfast of Champions, which brings together over 475 business executives and arts leaders to celebrate business giving to the arts each year.  She also consults with small and mid-sized arts and culture organizations to increase their capacity through better access to business volunteers, trained board members, and local business leaders.  She actively collaborates with national and regional cultural partners to increase private and public support of the arts, and participates in local and statewide efforts to shape and advocate for Oregon’s cultural policy. 

Prior to working at BCA, Jessica worked as the Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator for Zimbabwe Artists Project (ZAP) under the leadership of former LC professor, Richard Adams. She also worked as a Conferences and Events Coordinator at Lewis & Clark from 2005-2008. During her tenure as an LC staffer, Jessica significantly streamlined the processes between the Events and Music Departments to easily schedule the hundreds of concerts, rehearsals, student recitals and other gatherings taking place annually through the Music Department.

Jessica currently serves on the board of Ko-Falen Cultural Center, based in Bamako, Mali and is a resource council member for the Portland-based nonprofit The Circus Project. She received her Master’s in Public Administration and Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Portland State in 2010. At Lewis & Clark, Jessica majored in Music and French Studies and studied abroad in both Senegal and Strasbourg, France. She is currently an Alumni Career Corps member, and enjoys working with current students to increase their networking and professional skills.