Jeanne Jackson

Jeanne Jackson is the retired President/CEO of The Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham, an organization that supports economic opportunities for women through advocacy, collaboration and philanthropy.

During her seven-year tenure, The Women’s Fund raised $5 million in an 18-month campaign to launch a two-generational approach to move women and their children into economic stability and was selected as an ASCEND member of the Aspen Institute. The Women’s Fund was also chosen to be a partner in the national Young Women’s Initiative, received major national funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, was selected as the Birmingham Business Journal’s Non-Profit of the Year in 2014, and recognized as a leading local philanthropy by Birmingham Magazine.

Prior to joining The Women’s Fund in 2011, Jeanne was the founder of the Hess Center for Leadership and Service at Birmingham-Southern College and served as the Center’s director for twenty years. She taught courses in environmental policy for thirty years. She is a member of the Downtown Rotary Club, serves on the boards of the Freshwater Land Trust and Alabama Trails Foundation, and is active with the expansion of Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. She served in the Peace Corps in Senegal, Africa and completed Outward Bound.

Jeanne holds a Masters in Urban and Environmental Studies from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in political science from Mary Baldwin College. She is a graduate of Leadership Birmingham, Leadership Alabama, and Momentum. She is married to Dr. Mark Lester and the mother of two married sons and two grandsons. In her free time, she loves to garden, hike, travel, and birdwatch.

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