The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh announced that Jessica Brown Smith has been promoted to chief operating officer, reporting to CEO Jeffrey Finkelstein. She will join the newly created executive leadership team. In this role, she will oversee community planning, community relations, marketing, Jewish life and learning, and young adult outreach and engagement. Jessica will also be responsible for the development and implementation of the Federation’s new strategic plan.

Jessica previously held the position of senior director of development, providing strategic direction for all Jewish Federation income streams and growing total financial resource development over the past decade. In this role, she worked with volunteers on organizational governance, bringing innovative approaches to board education, on-boarding of new members, board member self-assessment, the structure of board meetings and board communication.

Over the course of her 24-year career with the Federation, Jessica held positions as director of Campaign and financial resource development, assistant marketing director, and marketing/Campaign associate. She is currently a Fellow in the Mandel Foundation Executive Leadership Program. She participated in the inaugural cohort of the Jewish Federation of North America’s Fundraising University and the Developing Executive Leaders Program with the Penn Cannon Group. She is a recipient of the Ira & Nanette Gordon Community Professional Achievement Award, which recognizes an outstanding Jewish community professional in Pittsburgh.

Jessica received a bachelor’s of science in advertising and marketing from the University of Colorado, Boulder.