Jess Atkins,

Founder & Director, Medical and Educational Aid to Kenya – US Chapter

Mentee:

Josephine, 18, Kenya

Ever since she can remember, Jess Atkins wanted to be a part of a bigger world and to experience places that allowed her to view the world through different lenses, different perspectives, different cultures and rhythms. So she moved to New York City the day after high school graduation, and began studying Criminal Justice and Art History at Hunter College. But her real education came from the diverse streets of New York. A stint as a summer intern at New York Magazine at age 19 led Jess down a new path, where she was then hired as Director of Public Relations for fashion designer Betsey Johnson.

In the twelve years since she began her career, she has been a very successful event producer for fashion shows and events on an international luxury brand level (Gucci, Tom Ford, Tommy Hilfiger – to name a few), an owner of her own branding and marketing business at 24 (selling it to her partner two years later), and the Director of Special Events at Vogue Magazine.