Jessi Navarro

As chief operating officer and chief financial officer, Jessi Navarro manages the day-to-day internal and financial operations of the Institute, serving as a chief of staff. Jessi’s mission is to foster collaboration across departments, grow Poynter’s business acumen, and bring Institute-wide support to those generating teaching, publishing and other programming content. Jessi continues to serve as a member of the Poynter Board of Trustees and acts as the secretary and treasurer for the board. Jessi is an executive leader whose passion is at the crossroads of finance, project management and technology. As a lifelong learner, she combines knowledge with strong analytical and communication skills to identify areas of improvement and then work collaboratively to make long-lasting change.

Jessi has deep experience in both finance and the Tampa Bay media industry. She worked for the Tampa Tribune and TBO.com, first as a business/financial analyst at the Tribune and then as Controller of TBO, focusing on innovation and process improvement. Before that, Jessi was a founding partner and CFO of a digital media startup, Xable.com, an online network targeted to persons with disabilities.

Jessi is a Tampa Bay native and 2012 graduate of the Tampa Connection program for executive leadership. She earned an MBA from the University of South Florida in 2005 and joined Poynter in 2015. During her tenure, Poynter has tripled its revenue, achieving double-digit revenue growth in four of the last five years. She became Project Management Professional (PMP) certified in November 2021, as part of strengthening her team’s overall agile project management expertise.