Jessica Buchleitner is a storyteller, communicator, and equality diplomat.

For 8 years, Jessica has served in United Nations interfacing roles, first as an NGO delegate and now as an NGO representative. She collaborated with diplomats, politicians, and civil society stakeholders as part of the “Cities for CEDAW” campaign, encouraging U.S. city mayors to adopt the CEDAW ordinance, the international women’s bill of rights. Jessica recently brought CEDAW to the private sector, encouraging Silicon Valley technology and financial companies to implement its provisions for policies affecting female employees.

To solve growing inequality issues yielded by financial products and services and to address the global absence of women in budgetary processes, Jessica provides communications strategy consulting to financial services organizations during international brand dissolutions, divestments, mergers, and for brand journalism.

In 2017 as a European Union External Action press visit invitee, she witnessed “Brexit Day” unfold. She was named Journalist of the Month in May 2015 by International Journalists’ Network. Her journalism features and books tell the stories of global unsung heroes, while attacking hard-hitting issues of sexual violence, armed conflict, and diplomacy structures. She is published with Harvard Nieman Foundation, Women News Network, Smithsonian Online, Reveal/ Center for Investigative Reporting, and a Knight Lab use case exploring virtual reality for storytelling. She is the author/curator of the 50 Women anthology series – a dual collection of endearing personal stories chronicling world events told by 50 women from 30 countries. In 2017, she co-edited Stories from Girls and Women of Mogadishu with personal stories of women and girls from various sectors of society in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Using her film and voice-over acting background, Jessica has delivered powerful speeches and panels discussions at United Nations official sessions, U.S. national chapters, universities, and conferences.

As Medill Editorial Scholarship recipient, she received a Master of Science in Journalism/ Media Innovation from Northwestern University and studied the application of agile innovation methods to media companies and technologically driven cultural shifts in news reporting. Through the program she joined a NUvention team to co-found MUSE, an activities based dating application.

Storytelling, Equal Pay Gender Issues, Culture, Innovation, Communication, Authors, Sexual Abuse/Rape, Gender & Sexuality, Influential Women, Women in Society, Empowerment, Women,