Jessi Rochel

Executive Director

Jessi Rochel is practically a Colorado native.  She was born in rural southwest Minnesota but moved to Carbondale in 1990, where she completed grades K-12.  She graduated with two Bachelor’s Degrees from Colorado State University and then returned to Carbondale, where she worked for the Town of Carbondale Parks and Recreation Department for 14 years.  Two offices and three full-time positions later, she is ecstatic to be the Executive Director of the Chris Klug Foundation.

Jessi has been a registered organ donor since her teens, is a member of the bone marrow and blood stem cell registry with NMDP, and one of her favorite things to do is to donate blood.  Organ and tissue donation is something quite literally close to her heart as her father received a life-saving heart transplant in 2015.  There are no words or actions large enough to express her gratitude every day to her father’s donor and donor family, but she feels working for CKF is a great way to honor them.

In her free time, Jessi loves to spend time with her rescue kitty, Bergamot.  She loves books (especially mysteries and Harry Potter), movies and TV series (especially cheesy ones), and all things athletic.  She is a runner, biker, swimmer, skier, hiker, and racer (participant, not competitor).  Her favorite words are “Yes” and “Why not,” and she loves to travel, particularly to participate in athletic events (usually ones that are long in distance or time) and foreign countries.