Jess Schwager Wants to Give You Money

INTERVIEW BY KALEB BROWN; PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW KELLY; STYLING BY JESS SCHWAGER     PUBLISHED: OCT 21, 2025

Jess Schwager, Director of Scholarship Programs at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, has built her life to further the lives of others. Growing up in rural Nebraska during the peak of pop culture, Jess operates with the expected coolness of a Y2K survivor.

When someone meets her, be it a donor, student or fellow human, they’re greeted by someone with a strong sense of herself. From her chic aesthetic to the way she talks, it is obvious she has spent many hours learning who she is and where she fits in the world – a truth made apparent by her ability to gracefully insert her own experiences in a conversation, not in a “look at me” way, but as a means of connecting through shared experiences.

That’s one of the first things you notice about Jess, the way she speaks. A poet, avid reader and thorough music lover (especially when it comes to the five bands her husband, Ethan, plays in), she has a passion for words that was instilled in her from a young age.

Some of Jess’s favorite books.

“My mom was a high school counselor,” Jess said. “But she was also one of the most prolific English teachers of her time. If you talk to any of her students, they say she’s life-changing. 

“I was a little kid, and she had all these books. And so, I was just always reading, which offered a great escape from the tiny town I lived in.” 

Growing up in Chambers, Nebraska, a small town with 300-some people, Jess didn’t have much in the way of outside perspective. Reading became a necessary measure to experience the worldviews, environments and people beyond the Nebraskan fields. 

Luckily, she never got lost in the corn maze. As a student at the University of Nebraska, she made her way through several majors, from business to journalism to nursing to teaching, finally settling on English, with a minor in education.

After college, she put her brief stint in journalism to use, working in athletic communications, but she quickly realized it wasn’t for her. A connection passed along an opportunity in the University of Oklahoma’s scholarship department.   

Scholarships were a whole new world for Jess, but with a vague understanding of financial aid and higher education from her mom’s career as a counselor, she dove in.  

“I genuinely believed I could do anything except maybe be an engineer,” Jess shared when asked about the switch from athletics to scholarships.

With that self-assurance, she forged ahead, centralizing the University’s scholarships, which at the time were being run departmentally, but it didn’t come without its challenges.  

“I was tasked with building an online system to consolidate everything,” she shared. “I have an English degree, not computer science, but I had a Myspace account and learned how to code there, so I really leaned on that experience.”  

And just like that, she tackled engineering, creating a system that OU continues to build upon nearly a decade later. At the end of her journey with the University, Jess was the director of the OU Scholarship Office and held a new Master of Arts in Administrative Leadership, experience and know-how that carried over nicely to OCCF.

After nearly seven years at OCCF, the scholarship program is flourishing under Jess’ leadership, securing its spot as one of the state’s largest independent scholarship providers. Last year alone, OCCF awarded $5 million in scholarships to more than 1,000 students in Oklahoma, and with more than 200 unique opportunities, the scholarship team has strived to ensure access to education for all students.  

“Over the past couple of years, we’ve made a really conscious effort to address our workforce needs, especially skilled workers,” Jess said. “Maybe they don’t need a two-year or four-year degree to obtain those jobs, but they still need to come up with money to be able to afford those skilled certifications.”  

Those skilled workers are in dire need both in Oklahoma and nationwide, with nearly four million open jobs as of August 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, the certifications and degrees needed for these positions can be expensive, and the demand isn’t being met by traditional scholarship programs, which are mainly focused on high school graduating seniors.  

“One area that many people overlook is adult learners returning to college,” Jess shares. “We’re trying to shift conversations and focus around people who may have joined the workforce right after high school and who are now wanting to go back and get additional training or get an additional certification, or even a new bachelor’s degree. 

“But it isn’t just the adult learners we had to pivot for,” she continues. “About three years ago, we were made aware that there were programs in the state of Oklahoma that were specifically designed for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities.” 

Jess shared how these programs are vital for these students who want to continue their education, live independently from their parents, and gain workforce skills. Unfortunately, these Inclusive Post Secondary Education (IPSE) programs come with a sizable price tag. 

“So often, families who might have traditionally saved for their students to attend college were using those expenses to help pay for really vital care for their children. And so, they’re having to come up with out-of-pocket costs for their student to attend these IPSE programs. 

“We went to our board of trustees, we went to our scholarship committee, and we asked them to update our policies so all of our funds could expand to support students in these programs.”  

By strengthening resources outside of the traditional scholarship offerings, OCCF sees applicants from ages 17 to 65 of all backgrounds across Oklahoma, and Jess and her team bring up the value this emphasis on inclusivity brings with every new donor looking to establish a scholarship with OCCF, and there is no shortage of new donors.  

“Every week I’m getting several inquiries about somebody wanting to invest in post-secondary education,” Jess shares with excitement. “And it isn’t just to start a new fund here at the Foundation. We are seeing more people who want to make an impact by contributing to other types of programs.  

“They go to our website and donate to these programs, some even setting up monthly donations to certain funds, which is really exciting to see. I don’t think people understand that $10 does a lot. Any amount helps, especially when contributing to funds providing scholarships for those underdeveloped areas, like adult learners or nontraditional student scholarship programs.” 

For Jess, her relationship with a donor doesn’t just start and stop at the check. She is committed to creating authentic relationships, standing by donors and guiding them through the scholarship process when, for many, it can be an exceptionally difficult time.  

“We see a lot of memorial funds here,” she reflects. “After you lose someone important to you, you want to find some way to make their legacy last forever. And sometimes, that’s through a scholarship fund.”  

But that doesn’t come without its own hurdles.  

“Nobody talks about dying,” she continues. “A lot of people don’t have any kind of plan at all for what they want their legacy to be. It’s never too early to talk about what you want that legacy to be, and it will make it easier for your family if you have those plans in place.”  

Having a plan is something she takes seriously and recommends to anyone looking to ensure their wishes are met. She brings it up early and often in her conversations with donors because, for Jess, taking care of loved ones is paramount, and she has no shortage of loved ones.  

“I just love meeting people,” she gushes. “I’m a Gemini, so I love to learn about and befriend everyone I meet.

“I’ve done things that have been absolutely terrifying,” she continues. “I know it can be super hard for adults to make friends, and there’s a lot of anxiety around that. I think people can find what they’re good at or what they’re passionate about and find a group that way.”  

Some of her more harrowing risks have had great rewards. When she first moved to Norman, knowing but a handful of people, she joined a softball team that eventually led her to meet her husband.  

Nowadays, she has traded in the jerseys for blazers, filling her cup by serving on boards for organizations like the Oklahoma Children’s Theatre and the Oklahoma Single Parent Scholarship Program. She was also recently appointed to the City of Norman Human Rights Commission.  

All these opportunities have enabled her to meet people who are working together to strengthen our community.  

At the end of the day, that had always been Jess’s goal. To work with people to build a strong community that benefits everyone in it.