‍Originally from Battle Ground, WA, Vanessa is a U.S. Army Human Resource Specialist at Joint Base Lewis-McCord. She is also a senior at American Military University pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business management with a minor in Marketing. She’ll use her $19,000+ in scholarships awarded in 2023 to complete a master’s degree in business administration and become a Management and Program Analyst for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

As a woman with a disability (she wears a permanent hearing aid), her community service initiative is titled “Beauty and Beyond: What is your Beautiful?” and is targeted to eradicate the beauty standards in today’s society. Her mission is to empower young women and men to focus on being self-confident through skill-building, goal setting, motivation, and kindness. She has partnered with Girls Inc., Dress for Success Seattle, and speaks in various school districts. Vanessa is the first active duty military member to also serve as Miss Washington.

Jesse is currently on the Board of the Nahmschahts Foundation and an Advisor to the David Cottrell Fund. From 2021 to 2024, Jesse was the COO of Willapa Bay Enterprises, the Section 17 Tribal Enterprises of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe in Southwest Washington. Prior to this, she was the Tribal Administrator for the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe. Prior to her work in government, Jesse worked primarily in international real estate development and investment advisory for over 10 years, primarily in the Middle East. She was a regional expert and often feature on international media.

Jesse has a MPA in Tribal Governance from The Evergreen State College, a MA in Sociology from the American University in Beirut, and a BA in Economics from Harvard University.