B:CIVIC Staff

B:CIVIC Leadership:

Jess Welser
Director of B:CIVIC and CSR

Jess joined B:CIVIC in November of 2017 for the 2017 Annual B:CIVIC Summit. Her professional career has focused on educating and advocating for conscious brands and organizations through corporate social responsibility.

Her background includes marketing and PR work for an outdoor apparel and gear retailer, along with a communications, marketing and community relations role with the City of Maquoketa (Iowa) to increase tourism and community efforts. In addition, Jess has worked with The University of Iowa on a re-branding project, Fox Sports/Big Ten Network for a market research and marketing campaign targeting millennials, a penguin sanctuary in New Zealand to assist on a UN Millennium Development Goal, and directed a 5K for Breast Cancer Education & Awareness.

As an Iowa Native, Jess made the move to Colorado in Fall 2017, to pursue her goal of learning more about corporate social responsibility and how she can do her part. She continued her education through the CU- Boulder Leeds School of Business Certification in CSR in partnership with B:CIVIC in the 2018 spring semester. In addition to corporate social responsibility, Jess has been volunteering with organizations her whole life, “For as long as I can remember, my parents had us (Jess and her 2 siblings) helping where we could, from spending summers at a local camp to holidays at soup kitchens, restoring native Iowa lands and being guides for events on the Mississippi River, it’s just a part of who I am now.” Prior to making the move Jess was active leader for a food pantry located in one of Iowa’s largest food deserts in a 22 county region.

Olivia Barrows
Impact and Operations Senior Specialist

Olivia was born and raised in Western Colorado and is a recent graduate of the University of Denver with a master’s in international studies. She started traveling internationally at a young age and recognized the need for commitments to social responsibility. As an undergraduate at Pacific University, Olivia led several student organizations and further saw the importance of local solutions to big problems. Prior to B:CIVIC, Olivia worked as an English teaching assistant in France and, after returning to Colorado, worked with the Denver Public Schools Foundation supporting corporate engagement. Olivia completed the Certificate in ESG Strategy from CU Boulder Leeds School of Business in spring 2023.