Jess was born into the world of international education to school-teacher parents, in Mussoorie, India. She grew up attending American International Schools between India, Kuwait, Pakistan, Indonesia and The United Arab Emirates. Jess’ first time studying abroad was moving “home” to her passport country to attend college at The University of Southern Mississippi, where she majored in French and Comparative Religion. She became very involved on campus and in the community through Amnesty International, as a Peer Advisor and student worker in the study abroad office, and through The Luckyday Service Learning Scholarship Program.

Immediately following graduation, Jess served as the resident director for a first and second year semester program in the Loire Valley in France (the Abbey Program), the same program on which she studied abroad. Following France, Jess spent six months traveling around the U.S. as a Senior Leadership Consultant for Alpha Delta Pi sorority, where she focused on brand and member development, and marketing and recruitment at the collegiate level. Jess visited 20 university campuses before moving to Newark, DE, to start the Theta Delta chapter of the organization at The University of Delaware. After a year and a half with ADPi, Jess moved back to MS to work in the study abroad office at her alma mater. During her tenure at Southern Miss, Jess again experienced life between cultures as she traveled between France, London, and Hattiesburg to manage The Abbey Program in the spring, the British Studies Program in the summer, and incoming exchange programs to Southern Miss in the fall.

Jess fell in love with CIS Abroad when she first met a few members of the team at a NAFSA conference in Vancouver, and was immediately drawn to the shared purpose of sparking growth and creating a more connected and compassionate world, one student at a time. Jess lives in Northampton, MA, where she enjoys having four “real” seasons (even in winter) with her husband, two kids, and cat.

During her undergraduate degree, Mary Alice spent semesters in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and Bangalore, India. The experiences impacted her academics, values, personal development, and much more. After graduating from The University of Nevada, Reno, she moved to Tacloban City in the Philippines for a content marketing internship with GoAbroad. This experience helped her discover that she wanted to impact students more directly. She moved to Beaumont, Texas, and was lucky to serve Lamar University’s brilliant student population, inspiring students to study abroad for nearly two years. After establishing a relationship with CIS Abroad, she was drawn to a community of professionals who shared the same mission and passion. She knew the work they could do together to inspire more students to study abroad would be unstoppable!

Mary Alice lives in Beaumont, Texas, and enjoys using her outside voice, wakeboarding, watching women’s soccer, and getting outside every chance she gets.