Tessa Jackson

Tessa Jackson is the Chief Strategist for Faubourg Advisors, a real estate and community development consultancy that specializes in creating catalytic development strategies for underserved communities, and whose representative clients include the Development Authority of Fulton County, the Georgia Development Capital Fund and the Claiborne Cultural Innovation District.

Ms. Jackson has over 15 years of combined community development, impact investing and social entrepreneurship experience. This experience includes seven years in regional program management and investment officer roles with the AFL-CIO Investment Program, where she underwrote debt and NMTC investments for the Housing Investment Trust and oversaw a number of community development-related initiatives. In addition to her tenure with the Investment Program, Ms. Jackson has served as a U.S. field officer for Trickle Up, an international microfinance organization, and played a key role in launching over a half dozen social impact ventures, including Hotel Hope, the Network for African-American Technology Entrepreneurs List, and Social Entrepreneurs of New Orleans. Throughout her career, Ms. Jackson has demonstrated an aptitude for effectively engaging with diverse stakeholders and developed a reputation for employing innovative thinking to solving complex social problems.

A former Rockefeller Foundation Redevelopment Fellow, Ms. Jackson holds a Master of Business Administration from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, a Graduate Certificate in Urban Redevelopment from the University of Pennsylvania, and Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Mechanical Engineering and Studio Art from Stanford University.