Before founding Downland, Jessi managed P&Ls and lending portfolios up to $1B in asset value at GE's Digital arm, then moved into startups supporting skilled workers in ed tech, small business owners in home services, and fintech. The thread connecting all of it: the financial mechanics behind how people and places change.
Reflecting on her LFA experience, Jessi shares: "Terra.do gave me the scientific foundation and the guardrails I needed to move from banking into climate work without getting lost in the enormity of it all. It was like having a fenced yard where I could explore freely but stay focused — learning the systems, meeting the people doing real work, and building the confidence that my finance background actually belonged in this fight. The structure and the network made my career transition feel possible, not just aspirational."
Downland is Jessi's bet that agricultural land transition, done right, is one of the most tractable climate interventions available. The scale of the problem is real. So is her approach to it.
