Humanizing
Higher Ed
Helping leaders in higher education who care deeply about their people create the conditions to do business differently.
Higher education is in the business of changing lives. It certainly changed mine as a student.
But as a university administrator, I found higher education to be an environment laden with hierarchy and outdated practices, lack-luster mentorship, and a glorification of being overworked and underpaid. Nationally, just 34% of all staff and faculty are engaged in their work. Employees in higher education are unhappy, unhealthy, overwhelmed, and in need of a change.
What once worked in higher education no longer works.
- Staff and faculty want to work in human environments. More human means more engagement, more loyalty, more joy, more creativity, more knowledge creation, and more student success.
- Staff and faculty will work hard in cultures that treat them like human beings.
- Staff and faculty want the same things: to matter, to belong, to do their best work, and to pass that on.
- When staff and faculty feel valued, they create value.
It’s time to humanize higher education.
Meet Jessica
I’ve spent 15+ years leading high-profile initiatives for c-suite leaders in higher education, non-profits, and foundations who want to create people-centric organizations. Most recently, I served as chief of staff to the president of Texas A&M, the largest public university in the country.
I combine that experience with evidence-based strategies, including positive psychology, behavior change, and mindfulness, to empower leaders in higher education to become more inspiring, impactful, and create work cultures that support courage, purpose, compassion, and wellbeing.






