Jacqueline Ballou joined the VTS faculty in 2017. Before coming to VTS, she served as the Director of Financial Management, Planning, and Operations at Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership. In this role, she managed day-to-day operations and served as the senior administrator directing all aspects of the Center’s finances, human resources, facilities, programs, and general business operations.
A native of Virginia, Ms. Ballou received a Bachelor of Science degree summa cum laude from North Carolina A&T State University, earned an MBA in finance and strategic management from Duke University and holds a Master of Arts in Ethics and Religious Studies valedictorian from Howard University.
She has over fifteen years of experience delivering business insight and results for universities, small businesses and Fortune 100 companies. Prior to joining the Center for Public Leadership, Jacqui served as the Finance, Development and Operations Officer for the Office of the President, Dean of the Chapel and Religious Affairs at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In addition to managing day-to-day operations and finances at Howard, she served as the primary contact with other university deans, faculty and senior administrators, nationally and internationally renowned guest speakers and community leaders. She successfully managed grants administration, both pre- and post-award processes and multi-million dollar endowment portfolios. Jacqui has secured, implemented, and managed departmental scholarships/fellowships funded by private donors that awarded students full tuition, fees and stipends. She has created and maintained departmental operating policies and procedures and provided management and oversight of multi-million dollar capital renovation projects.
While at Howard University, Ms. Ballou managed all aspects of the University’s award-winning Alternative Spring Break program, an annual one-week service learning mission trip that sponsored over 500 students, faculty, staff and administrators traveling to various cities across the country, including Haiti, to be in service to those in underserved communities. The alternative spring break program has been named Person of the Week by ABC News and is viewed as a model of service excellence by several universities across the country. Ms. Ballou also served as the Senior Director of Financial Reporting and Analysis at Howard in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Earlier in her career, she traveled the country creating business strategies and implementing best practice business solutions for public sector clients primarily in the healthcare, government, and higher education arena as an Executive Consultant focusing on business strategy and organizational change management for IBM Business Consulting Services.
Ms. Ballou is a Certified Public Accountant who loves the creative expression of writing and has maintained a daily practice of journaling for over 20 years.