Jacques Hebert joined McKnight as communications director in October of 2022. In this role, Jacques leverages the power of strategic communications to advance the mission of the Foundation and its program goals. He is a public relations expert with experience working in nonprofit and for-profit organizations across policy, environment, science, entertainment, and technology.
Most recently Jacques led communications for Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) global Climate Resilient Coasts and Watersheds initiative, including overseeing a communications team for the Restore the Mississippi River Delta coalition, raising awareness to Louisiana’s land loss crisis, its far-reaching implications on people, wildlife and the economy, and the restoration solutions available to address it. Prior to joining EDF, he served as communications director for National Audubon Society and Audubon Louisiana as part of the same coalition. Before that, Jacques worked as the public affairs manager for Mother Jones and for Google in its advertising department and YouTube corporate communications team.
Jacques graduated from Dartmouth College with a dual major in Spanish and Latin American Studies. In 2016, Jacques completed the Institute for Environmental Communication at Loyola University, and in 2018, he was an Aspen Ideas Festival scholar. Gambit, a weekly newspaper in New Orleans, selected Jacques as one of its “40 Under 40” in 2018 for his efforts to preserve and protect Louisiana’s environment and culture.
Jacques hails from New Orleans and has also spent significant time in his mother’s homeland of Guatemala. He and his husband live in Minneapolis with their dog. He loves being in nature, cooking, gardening, and team sports.
Favorite quote, from the Peace Prayer of St. Francis:
make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.