An Emerge graduate, Jessica Forsythe comes to the role of Executive Director with a proven track record of empowering women and female-identifying candidates to run for office, as both an Emerge Trainer and mentor.
Since 2020, Jessica has served as a member of the Redmond City Council, where she secured an additional $2.5 million in Human Services funding to keep people housed during the pandemic, wrote a grant policy which provided support for over 360 small and micro businesses throughout the pandemic, and conceived a policy that led to Senate Bill 5452 that succeeded in opening up statewide funding for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
Volunteering played an important role in Jessica’s upbringing, and she has maintained a connection with community organizations throughout her life. She strongly believes in grassroots organizing and knows first-hand the impact one person can have—from early experience phone banking for Planned Parenthood, to text banking in critical election cycles nationwide, to serving on several nonprofit boards, and lobbying the Federal government as a Recording Academy District Advocate.
Originally from Northeast Ohio, Jessica graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communication Design. She is an award-winning Creative Director who instills a thoughtful and holistic approach into every endeavor. Jessica brings experience from public, private, and nonprofit sectors as well as from a wide range of industries specializing in communications, branding, marketing, graphic design, and environmental design.
Jessica loves opening herself up to new experiences whether it be learning from the FBI in their Citizen’s Academy, active training as a firefighter for a day, or trying a track bike on a velodrome. In her free-time she enjoys hiking, cycling, kayaking, skiing, rowing, rock climbing, and critiquing films with her husband.