Jessica Poole enters her first year at Chicago State serving as senior associate athletic director for external operations and revenue generation.

A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Poole comes to Chicago after serving as senior associate athletic director of external relations at Florida Atlantic University. During her time as FAU Poole oversaw FAU’s communications, marketing and corporate sponsorship areas while serving as a member of the athletics leadership team.

Poole has spent the majority of her professional career in communications and currently serves as College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), third vice president and chair of the diversity and inclusion committee. She will become the first African-American female to lead the organization during the 2022-23 academic year.

Prior to her tenure at FAU, Poole worked at Vanderbilt University as assistant director of communications primarily working with the sports of football and women’s basketball.

Always looking for ways to increase and create value, Poole was instrumental in helping grow the Vanderbilt women’s basketball social media accounts while also working to implement new and innovative ways to reach the greater Nashville community which included fireside chats and other exclusive events for fans.