Meet Jessica
Jessica started her PR career in the health care practice of Cohn & Wolfe NY (now Burson) before starting her own consultancy nearly twenty years ago. Working directly with her own clients as well as supporting agency teams, Jessica leverages her deep health comms experience to deliver thoughtful strategic counsel and robust media outreach results.
Jessica provides pro bono public relations support to the Coalition of Autism Scientists, an organization formed in 2025 in reaction to U.S. Department for Health and Human Services' actions to dismiss decades of autism research and establish questionable research protocols without input from the autism community.
Comprised of the leading autism researchers from across the United States who advocate for high quality, transparent, and collaborative research approaches that inform the global understanding of autism, Jessica works with the Executive Committee to shape their key messages, develop public statements, generate and coordinate media opportunities, and maintain their website.
In her free time, Jessica reviews novels for Publisher’s Weekly® and, during their elementary and high school years, raised tens of thousands of dollars to support arts and educational programming for her children's schools. Jessica enjoys taking her dog, Brandi, for walks around the neighborhood, and is the long-time leader of her book club. (Jessica encourages the group to read more science fiction.) Like many media specialists, Jessica is competitive, which is why she and her friends play pub trivia, forming a team named the Noodlers.
Jessica earned a B.A. with highest distinction in economics and sociology (with honors) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a Phi Beta Kappa inductee. An empty nester with two (nearly) grown children, she lives with her husband in Charlotte, NC.
Internship
If you are a current Newhouse School of Public Communications student at Syracuse University and are seeking a Fall 2026 internship with a focus on health communications, please reach out to jessica@jldcommunications.com with a cover letter (max 300 words) and resume. Please describe relevant experience with Muck Rack and WIX.com.
This is a paid position, approximately 10 hours a month. Thank you for your interest!
Deadline to apply: September 9, 2026.
