Jesse Cowling

Jesse Cowling (she/her) is Beam Center’s Director of Development, bringing nearly 20 years of experience building sustainable funding for mission-driven organizations. She leads the growth of Beam’s philanthropic partnerships to ensure that young people have the resources to imagine, design, and build ambitious projects.

Before joining Beam, Jesse directed Institutional Giving at the Sundance Institute, guiding a team to secure over $9M annually from major foundations and government partners.

She has an MA in Cinema Studies from NYU and a BA in Film from Whitman College. Jesse lives in Brooklyn with her partner, two children, a dog, and a bearded dragon. When she’s not fundraising, she is teaching her kids about community activism and mutual aid, finding ways to stay close to the natural world in Brooklyn, and pretending she’s still in her 20s by sneaking off to sweaty concerts and the movies.