Jessica Malkin serves as Executive Managing Director & Chief Growth Officer for Cresset where she leads marketing, communications, and strategic growth initiatives—including enhancing client experience, curating learning events, and expanding the firm’s national business, civic, and philanthropic engagement initiatives.
Jessica most recently served as the Founding Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Ideas, growing it from inception into a year-round, nationally recognized platform and community for ideas, connections, and dynamic programming focused on igniting positive action and change. Previously, Jessica served as the Chief of Staff at Uptake, an industrial AI software company that harnesses the power of data and predictive analytics
Jessica has been recognized with numerous honors, including Crain’s Chicago Business 40 Under 40 in 2016, a YWCA Hometown Hero, and a Disruptor Foundation Fellow through the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards. Jessica sits on the board of directors of Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Embarc, The Susan Crown Exchange, and in 2019 was appointed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to the Board of Trustees for The Lincoln Academy of Illinois. Jessica and her husband, Joshua, live in Chicago with their three daughters and two dogs (Blue & Sadie). Jessica graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from American University.