Jessica Shiles Hess

About Jessica Shiles Hess

People. Passion. Purpose. I am a passionate, driven, and goal-oriented professional who loves building relationships, listening and sharing stories, and creating community with people. My passions are rooted in my values of joy, growth, and collaboration. And I find great purpose in my life to encourage, educate, empower, and inspire those around me, both personally and professionally.I have been in the field of healthcare, genetics and biotech for over 12 years and have developed/strengthened many skillsets, including, but not limited to: marketing (B2B, DTC, and B2B2C), sales, leadership, brand communication, product development, project & program management, customer service, variant interpretation, community outreach, patient advocacy, and clinical counseling. I have a passion for advancing patient-centric healthcare and I thrive in environments where people, passion, and purpose come together. In addition to my passion for personalized healthcare, I obtained my coaching certification and have found myself in a great position to offer tools, processes and practices to help aspiring genetic counselors, professional genetic counselors, and the rare disease community to achieving their career goals through accountability, through discipline and 5 Clifton Strengths: Winning Others Over (WOO), Activator, Positivity, Developer, Connectedness

Experience

1. Gc Connexons- Genetic Counseling Supervisor

   Rarerising

   Jul 2023 — Present

   GC Connexons via Rare Rising is a pilot student genetic counselor (GC) matching program. Student interns are provided with an experienced genetic counselor supervisor and are expected to identify and complete at least one project for the organization during their internship.By integrating genetic counseling students into nonprofit organizations, we enhance the capacity of patient organizations while providing students with valuable fieldwork opportunities. This partnership also provides professional development of future genetic counselors who now will have hands on rare disease experience.Our program’s hybrid model leverages both in-person and virtual platforms, making genetic counseling services more accessible to those facing barriers. GC Connexons interns meet with genetic counselor supervisors weekly to review work, receive coaching, address questions and ensure their work is kept in alignment with the organization’s goals and mission. Pilot pulls from over 50 rare disease organizations who have expressed interest in participating.Learn more here: https://rarerising.org/gc-connexons/

Education

• Sarah Lawrence College

  Master's degree, Human/Medical Genetics

  2016 — 2018

• College of Executive Coaching

  Personal & Executive Coaching

  2020 — 2020

• Arizona State University

  Bachelor of Science (BS), Biology: Genetics, Cell and Developmental Biology

  2009 — 2013