Guided by a belief in the inherent dignity of all people, Jillian has spent her 15+ year career working for social justice, with a special emphasis on housing and community development. As of January 2025, Jillian is bringing this passion for justice to JewishColumbus as the new Senior Director of Community Planning. In this role, Jillian will manage and lead the assessment, redesign, and implementation of JewishColumbus’ updated investment process and create meaningful metrics that tell the story of JewishColumbus’ impact in the community, and how we are becoming the best Jewish community in North America.

Most recently, Jillian served as Director of Community Life, Great Lakes region with The Community Builders, a nonprofit affordable housing developer, where she oversaw an extensive portfolio of mixed income communities across a three-state region, supporting residents in housing stability and other aspirations. Prior to that, Jillian spent three years as Chief Mission Officer with YWCA Columbus, where she oversaw external mission alignment through advocacy and racial justice programming, and internally through supporting organizational culture change. She is honored to serve on various committees and councils, including past service as a Commissioner with the Columbus Women’s Commission, as a member of MBA’s Convergence Columbus’ Black homeownership initiative, and as a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s Community Advisory Council. She earned a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning, and a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from The Ohio State University in 2009.

In her free time, Jillian loves spending time with her twin nieces, exploring hiking trails in central Ohio metro parks, or antiquing.