Jessy Needham, M.A.
CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER (she/her)
Jessy oversees CCEJ’s fund development. Her commitment to building inclusive, equitable and sustainable organizations is rooted in more than 20 years of experience working in multicultural and multiracial environments in the United States and Southeast Asia.
Prior to joining CCEJ in 2018, she was Grants and Communications Manager for the Center for the Pacific Asian Family in Los Angeles, which provides culturally responsive supportive services to families affected by domestic violence and sexual assault. During six years living in Southeast Asia, she served as program officer for the Vietnamese Student Fulbright Scholarship Program and provided technical assistance to a grassroots environmental nonprofit in Laos.
Jessy holds a Master's degree in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management from SIT Graduate Institute in Vermont and a B.A. in History from Quaker-founded Earlham College. Her paternal lineage stretches back to White, Protestant colonial settlers from England; her maternal lineage is rooted in Jewish Ashkenazim who left Romania for New York City in the early 1900’s. This family blending of different faith traditions and timelines of settlement in the U.S. inspires her dedication to building a world where all people can live free of oppression and thrive.
She is a lover of languages and history, a wanderer, a karaoke maven, and a pop culture enthusiast.