Jessie Bustamante

In 2006, Jessie graduated from the College of Humanities and joined the for-profit world. However, it didn’t take long for her to realize that her real passion was in the nonprofit sector. Jessie is now a chief advancement officer focused on the fundraising, communication marketing and community outreach efforts for ACCEL, a nonprofit serving individuals who have special needs. Prior to this role Jessie has had a variety of fundraising and leadership roles within health and human services organizations including the American Lung Association and American Heart Association in Arizona and California. Her main focus in all of these roles has been raising money for a mission, leading and managing teams and growing the capacity of the organizations.

In her free time, you can find Jessie traveling the globe to visit her 12 nieces and nephews, volunteering in the community or catching up with friends. Although originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Jessie resides in Scottsdale with her husband, Luis (a fellow Wildcat she met right before graduation), and Australian Shepherd, Cujo. She represents the University of Arizona every day with her Wildcat gear to help make sure Phoenix is Wildcat Country!

Top Mentoring Goals:

• Help mentees develop professional and life skills 
• Help mentees grow their professional networks by making connections to others in my field
• Help mentees improve their networking skills for the future