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As former Vice President of Tesla Motors, Jessica Switzer directed marketing and launch strategy for the notable electric sports car manufacturer. Before Tesla, she was Managing Director of Ruder Finn, the second-largest, independently owned PR agency in the world. Previously, Switzer was president of Switzer Communications, a public relations and marketing firm, which she founded in 1995 with annual billings of $3 million and 25 employees. Switzer’s firm was acquired by Ruder Finn in 2003. Switzer also ran corporate communications for Broderbund Software, a consumer software company, where she served as company spokesperson and assisted the company throughout its IPO and numerous acquisitions. Currently, she serves as Executive Director for a nonprofit client, All-America Rose Selections.
Switzer specializes in product and company launches, integrated marketing campaigns, and public relations and crisis communications. She is an active member of the TED community, and co-chairs the Media Committee for New Voice of Business. She is also involved with the Switzer Foundation, a $20 million family foundation devoted to creating environmental leaders through academic and project leadership grants. She received a bachelor's degree in politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
"When I was six, my mother and stepdad James moved us from the suburbs of Berkeley to the middle of the Siskiyou National Forest in southern Oregon, six miles down a dirt road and miles from our nearest neighbor. My brothers, sister, and I grew up milking goats, raising our own beef and vegetables, and eating “home growners.” We generated our own electricity with a hydroelectric generator, which was powered from Shade Creek, and our drinking water came from Spring Creek. As kids, we wandered the land in a near-constant state of exploration and enjoyment, aware even at a young age of the power of nature’s beauty to make us feel alive.”
"Participating in wild nature activities before age 11 is a particularly potent pathway toward shaping both environmental attitudes and behaviors in adulthood."Nancy Wells, Assistant Professor, Cornell University College of Human Ecology
