Jennifer Jessup was named Chief of Staff, of the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) effective, November 2022. She is the senior advisor to the Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs and the Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs in the executive leadership of 155 VA national cemeteries and 122 VA grant-funded state and tribal Veteran cemeteries that provide dignified burials in national shrines for Veterans and their eligible family members.
NCA is responsible for maintaining the cemeteries as national shrines; design and construction activities related to the establishment of new national cemeteries; overseeing memorial programs to honor the service of Veterans, including the provision of headstones, markers, medallions and Presidential Memorial Certificates; and administering federal grants to help states, territories and tribal governments establish cemeteries for Veterans.
Ms. Jessup’s other responsibilities include NCA’s evolving programs to modernize memorialization of Veterans through its Veterans Legacy Memorial and Veterans Legacy Program initiatives. These programs use modern technology and collaboration with educational professionals and students to tell the stories of the more than 4 million Veterans interred in VA cemeteries.
Ms. Jessup joined the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as a Presidential Management Fellow, serving as a Training Specialist in Veteran Readiness and Employment Service in the Veterans Benefits Administration.
Prior to this appointment, Ms. Jessup served at VA Headquarters as Director of Operations, Office of Enterprise Integration, from 2019; Division Chief, Board of Veterans’ Appeals, from 2018; Deputy Executive Secretary, Office of the Secretary from 2014; and Assistant Chief of Staff, Office of the Secretary from 2010.
Ms. Jessup earned a Masters of Strategic Studies, U.S. Army War College, Department of the Army, Carlisle, PA, in 2013; Masters of Counseling Psychology, Geneva College, Beaver Falls, PA; in 2003; and a Bachelors of Psychology, Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA, in 2001.