Jennifer has created a 25-year career in the Arts as a non-profit executive and fundraiser, festival producer, Arts advocate, professional theatre manager, actor and singer, and co-founder of events and programs that have received international acclaim.

Under her leadership since 2008, the Cultural Arts Alliance has created and scaled programs and events that serve and positively impact the community, including the Underwater Museum of Art, Foster Gallery, Beyond Bars Prison Songwriting Program, Arts education outreach, Art for All funding program, and 30A Songwriters Festival of which she is a co-founder. Jennifer has built important cross-sector collaborations and partnerships to expand audience reach, and she has steered the CAA through nearly two decades of growth into one of the leading Arts organizations in Northwest Florida.

Jennifer’s career began as a Theatre student, actor and box office manager at Valdosta State University (GA) and as an intern for the Lowndes-Valdosta Arts Commission, where she developed her love for arts management and production. After a time with Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts as a Development & Events Coordinator, she moved to her family’s summer locale of Northwest Florida to co-found the Seaside Repertory Theatre, the area’s first professional theatre company. For seven years, she served as Managing Director while also performing in plays and musicals, including in the title role of Always, Patsy Cline, The Last Five Years, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, and other roles both on and off stage. After a ten-year hiatus, Jennifer revisited the stage in 2019 to play Haley in a sold-out run of the one-woman show Bad Dates at Emerald Coast Theatre Company.

Jennifer was the 2023 recipient of the Pinnacle Award, which celebrates outstanding women making contributions in NW Florida, and the 2016 Van Ness Butler, Jr. Hospitality Award, which recognizes excellence in travel/tourism marketing, promotion, and contributions to Walton County. Jennifer is a member of the Walton County Tourist Development Council, a former co-chair of Americans for the Arts’ Private Sector Network Council, and a past member of Visit Florida’s Culture, Heritage, Rural, and Nature committee.

She is proud to lead the CAA’s talented team, work with a dedicated Board of Directors, support artists and makers, and work every day to make and keep Walton County creative.