Jessica Richards

Jessica Richards oversees the Democracy and Civic Initiatives program, which encompasses a $15 million annual grantmaking budget. She manages grantmaking related to advancing the program's Census Participation, Fair Redistricting, Voter Participation, and Regional Funder Collaboration objectives. Jessica also oversees program operations for the Foundation to support effective grantmaking. She is the Assistant Secretary to the Board of Directors, and works with the Executive Director and related family offices on foundation governance.

Prior to joining the Foundation in 2015 as a program associate in the Creative Communities program, she worked in the performing arts in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Philadelphia as a theater director, producer, and casting director. 

Jessica holds a B.S. in theater and political science from the University of Evansville. She earned her MPA from the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania. Jessica serves on the Governance Committee of the Nonprofit Repositioning Fund. When she's not at work, Jessica likes to travel, go on family-friendly hikes, and continue her pandemic-era bread baking hobby.