“Empowering leaders to seek inward to lead outward.”
Jessika serves as an executive leadership coach, a facilitator and a keynote speaker. She partners with purpose-driven executives to develop their authentic leadership style while staying true to their values, which in turn increases their efficacy and impact as leaders. She strives to advance the growth of women in leadership, supporting female leaders looking to expand their influence, make their voices heard and take purposeful action to shift the status quo in the public, corporate and nonprofit sectors.
Jessika is passionate about accelerating social change through conscious leadership, enabling leaders to thrive with compassion and inclusivity. She coaches leaders on building collaborative teams, embracing creative leadership skills and maximizing their professional potential to achieve business results. She also delivers customized training and facilitates leadership programming for institutional clients. She has implemented and overseen leadership training programs for think tanks, nonprofit organizations and federal agencies.
Clients value Jessika’s deep curiosity about the human experience and ability to create a warm environment that allows them to be vulnerable and better understand themselves, their values and motivations, and their individual strengths. She also helps clients identify limiting beliefs that hinder them from leading with authenticity and intentionality, and she encourages those she works with to be open-minded and experiment with creative leadership strategies that leverage their skills and natural gifts. Her approach is holistic and interdisciplinary in nature. Each individual coaching relationship is co-created and tailored to the client’s needs.
Experience
Works across sectors and industries, including with organizations such as Women in Government Relations, Leadership Institute for Black Women and Advancing Women Executives .
Oversaw strategy, design, operations and partnerships for a $2.5 million portfolio of leadership development programs for federal executives at the Brookings Institution, including the Executive Fellowship and Women’s Leadership cohort programs.
Jessika’s approach to leadership has been informed by the cross-cultural experiences she’s sought out: pursuing a graduate degree and teaching English in Rome, facilitating Fulbright fellowships for midcareer leaders from 90 different countries, and implementing USAID leadership and workforce training programs for Egyptian women pursuing a STEM education.
Education, Training and Certifications
- M.A., Government and Politics (St. John’s University) Graduate Certificate, Diplomacy and International Law (St. John’s University)
- B.A., dual degree in Communication and Italian language and Literature (University of Maryland, College Park)
- Executive Certificate in Leadership Coaching (Flow Coaching Institute)
- ICF Professional Certified Coach (ACC)
- Certified Narrative Enneagram Practitioner, (The Narrative Enneagram)
Assessment Certifications
DiSC Assessment; Partnership for Public Service 360 Assessment; Enneagram
Personal
Jessika lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and cat. They are expecting their first child in 2024. Jessika is a proud Terp and serves on the University of Maryland College of Arts and Humanities Alumni Board and as a recommended coach for the UMD Alumni Association. Jessika lived and worked abroad in Rome, Italy, and spent time as an au pair in Madrid, Spain. Jessika is an avid theatre patron and enjoys hiking in Rock Creek Park and the surrounding Washington, D.C., area.