Jess Wolfe
Jazz Pharmaceuticals corporate sustainability and social impact head graduates
Jess Wolfe grew up in New Mexico where her mother ran home health care companies, in a time when it was rare for women to lead organizations, much less a single mom. While Jess appreciated her mom’s career, she followed her into health care but wanted to also blaze a new trail.
She left New Mexico to play Division I soccer for Vanderbilt on a full ride and pursue journalism. But by the time she graduated, she had the opportunity to work on Al Gore’s presidential campaign and switch to communications studies and political science as majors. Wolfe also ended up working for Cardinal Health, a huge health care distributing company that supplies hospitals from everything from surgical kits to bedpans.
She found her way into medical device sales but couldn’t quite stomach some of the job assignments.
“I fainted during a couple open heart surgeries, you know where the patient is on the table with their chest open,” Wolfe said. “I just wasn’t cut out to be in the surgical suites.”
From Sales to Patient
While Wolfe wasn’t cut out as an observer in the operating room, she volunteered to be a patient, donating a kidney to her mom who had been battling kidney failure. Wolfe moved back to Albuquerque to care for her mom while her mom was on dialysis, and then stayed post-surgery.
She ended up getting a rare opportunity to get into her first love, politics, becoming a special assistant of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. It was this combination of politics and health care experience that launched a whole new career, one she’d have for nearly 15 years.
Wolfe with her family
“I was making peasant wages and working 80 hours a week in state government when I got a call from an old friend at a medical device company asking if I would be interested in starting up a government affairs program at Boston Scientific, one of the world’s largest medical device makers,” Wolfe said.
As you might imagine, she jumped at the opportunity.
“I started up the first medical device state government affairs program and lobbied in all 50 states, from Sacramento to Boston,” Wolfe said. “I really found my niche.”
Pursing a Graduate Degree
Wolfe was in her element and in-demand, yet she felt she’d hit a ceiling in the government affairs world. She’d always wanted to pursue a graduate degree but traveled nonstop and couldn’t find the time. When the pandemic hit and travel came to a halt, she seized the opportunity.
“I really liked the way the Daniels Executive MBA program was structured,” Wolfe said. “It was short enough that I thought I could get it done before business travel really heated backup.”
The Executive MBA is an 18-month program tailored to the strengths and needs of professionals with 10–20+ years of experience. Coursework includes corporate strategy, global management, mobilizing large organizations and teams, leading large-scale change, confronting difficult ethical decisions and balancing the needs of diverse stakeholders.
Wolfe with her fellow Executive MBA classmates
A New Career Challenge
Wolfe was in her first quarter of the program when another phone call came with a new career-change offer. Her boss, the chief legal officer at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, wanted her to launch the environmental, social and governance (ESG) team at the company.
“I didn’t know what ESG stood for when I came into the program,” Wolfe said. “After the first quarter, I at least had a bit of exposure that allowed me to step into it.”
As the head of global sustainability and social impact for Jazz, Wolfe is forging a new path in the health care industry and for herself, just as she did in government affairs.
“I don’t know if this comes from a lifetime of playing really competitive sports as a woman or from being raised by a strong single mom, but you build this confidence that really nothing’s out of reach. You just have the right mindset; if you don’t limit yourself, nothing else will,” she said.
A Fearless, Authentic Leader
Her classmate Darren Rapaport has seen that drive in class with Wolfe.
“Fearless—that’s the first word that comes to mind when I think of Jess,” said Rapaport, who is one of the cohort’s team leads. “Her presence and disposition and courage is an example for everyone to model. She always leads with empathy and respect; she’s an exceptional executive leader.”
Rapaport and Amanda Cahal, director of global MBA programs at Daniels, traveled with Wolfe and the entire EMBA cohort to South Africa for the global challenge, which is the culminating experience of the program. Cahal got to know Wolfe by teaching the global course, and also when they spent quality time together after a flight delay on their way to Johannesburg.
“She’s not just calm, cool and collected, but authentically optimistic,” Cahal said. “She’s a natural-born leader; she’s genuinely curious and very authentically connects with people.”
Summer Graduation
Wolfe, Rapaport and 12 others from this Executive MBA cohort will graduate together Aug. 19. They had an incredible experience as they not only navigated school together, but also the pandemic.
“I was really more ready than I actually knew before I started the program to expand, to learn some things that really would stretch me,” Wolfe said. “This program absolutely did that.”
Like many students in Daniels MBA programs, the class experience was richer because of her fellow classmates.
“I think the program brought together a really eclectic cohort. Just hearing from people who had long been leaders in their business careers was rewarding,” she said. “I know I’ve got 13 people who will be friends for life.”