Jennifer Wallace was born in suburban Maryland and moved to San Jose, California in her early teens.
Jennifer was active in community and philanthropic activities from an early age, holding leadership positions in various civic organizations in high school and college.
After graduating from Smith College in 1997 as a Dean’s list and First Group Scholar, Jennifer returned to the San Francisco Bay Area where she began her career in marketing and business development.
Jennifer’s career has included working for education and legal aid non-profits as well as Fortune 500 retail and banking organizations, where she’s led marketing and business development campaigns and managed internal communication programs.
As a child, Jennifer coped daily with the challenges of facial difference, resulting from a large facial tumor that appeared soon after birth. She’s had 15 reconstructive operations and published a book discussing the psychosocial impact of facial difference on childhood development.
Speaking about her own experiences, and leveraging research from her book, Jennifer has presented at the Grand Rounds at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, where she had her operations. She’s also presented at various vascular malformation conferences around the country including the NYU Vascular Malformations symposia.
Jennifer works with the PALS Foundation to increase awareness about underserved populations by uniting affiliated organizations and connecting volunteers with life-impacting opportunities.