Jessica (Jes) Herman is an experienced education nonprofit professional, with over 20 years experience working primarily with City Year, an AmeriCorps program that brings diverse young people together to serve in teams in historically under-resourced schools as tutors and mentors.  Currently, Jes serves as the Chief of Staff for City Year Kansas City.  In this role, Jes oversees all people work and development including hiring and onboarding, all financial and operational work at the site, and partners closely with the Executive Director on all site-wide strategic initiatives and board development.

She started as an AmeriCorps member with City Year Chicago in 2005 and has been privileged to build a robust career at the nonprofit ever since.  In 2015 she returned home to Kansas City to help build City Year’s work from the ground up in her hometown.  Jes is also a PROUD University of Kansas alumna twice-over – receiving her BA in sociology in 2005 and her master’s degree in public administration in 2018.  In 2023, Jes was privileged to join the KC Chamber of Commerce Centurions Program, a leadership development initiative for KC’s rising community leaders, which has given her immense insight into the Kansas City community at-large. Jes spends her free time with her husband Ben and daughters Violet and Marigold, and they are a proud Kansas City Public Schools family.