Meet our Staff

Jess Rodriguez

Jess Rodriguez seeks to expand community engagement and organizes around solutions identified in the Health, Equity, and Nature Accelerator Report.  They support community members to advocate for environmental, social, and economic justice for a thriving, resilient future. Prior to Brushwood, Jess was the Greenhouse Conservatory Horticulturist at the Chicago Botanic Garden and also interned for Lake Forest Open Lands as a restoration ecologist. Jess holds a Bachelor’s degree in both Sociology and Environmental Studies from Whitman College where they wrote their thesis on the perspectives of health, nature, and community in Lake and Cook County. They grew up in Waukegan, IL and was a Schuler Scholar throughout highschool and college. 

​Jess is also a certified Nature and Forest Therapy guide and has their own private practice known as Reciprocal Forest Bathing (https://www.reciprocalforestbathing.com/). They have a deep love for spending time with the more-than-human-world whether through backpacking, canoeing, or wandering around Lake Michigan.