Jessica Stidham is our Assistant Director of Innovation and First Ascent, West Virginia’s flagship talent retention program offered through the OEDC. As a veteran program director, Jess has a strong foundation in program and project management that makes her well-adept to provide strategic leadership for First Ascent, while also contributing to the growth and expansion of other OEDC programs.
While Jess has actively served in higher education for over a decade, she most recently joined the OEDC after serving as the Program Manager for the WV AHEC Rural Community Health Scholars program, chair of the NAO Education Committee, NAO mentor, and co-founder of the WVU Preparatory Rural Health Education Program (PREP) in collaboration with the WVU Institute for Community & Rural Health. These experiences have solidified Jess' expertise in establishing new initiatives and driving their success.
Jess holds a BA in Anthropology and Sociology from NCC, and a Master's degree in Corporate & Organizational Communication from WVU; she is also currently working towards her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
When she’s not at her desk, you can usually find her hiking, camping, swimming, or yoga-ing in the mountains, swinging by a local business with a cold one on tap, or sipping a coffee on her back porch at sunrise. Jess is also a certified yoga and mindfulness meditation instructor; she even has her own small business and online yoga studio!