Jennifer L. Childress

Jennifer L. Childress is the founder and principal strategist at JLC Social Impact Consulting where she helps philanthropists, non-profits, and brands develop clear, sustainable, values-based strategies to make a positive impact in their corporate culture, their communities, and their world. Select clients include The Shark Fund, John Legend, FREEAMERICA, Entertainment Industry Foundation, and Stand Up 2 Cancer. 

Leveraging more than 10+ years in the social impact space and experience leading high-impact initiatives in New York, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, Jennifer has personally run campaigns, developed programs, produced high-level events, and raised millions of dollars in service of change.

She often serves as a subject-matter expert on strategic philanthropy, racial justice, education, and creating long-term change. She has been featured on Spectrum’s In Focus California, KTLA 5, the Los Angeles Times en Español, and Town & Country Magazine’s Philanthropy Summit, among others. 

Before transitioning into consulting, Jennifer served as the Los Angeles Area Director of Development at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), where she led strategy, communications, development, and programming for UNCF Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii.

Prior to her work at UNCF, Jennifer served in strategic roles at Communities in Schools of Los Angeles, the NAACP Washington DC Bureau, and the Phipps Houses Group.

She served for two years as co-lead of the Pepperdine Black Alumni Council and is now a member of Pepperdine President Jim Gash’s African American Advisory Council. 

In her free time, she is a soprano in the Angel City Chorale, where has had the honor of performing under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and launching composer Christopher Tin’s Billboard- topping classical work, The Drop that Contained the Sea.

Jennifer earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Pepperdine University. She and her husband live in Southern California with their puppy, Mulder.