Jennifer M. Wilder ’94
About Jennifer M. Wilder ’94
Jennifer Wilder currently serves as the Director of Development and Communications at Warrior Canine Connection (WCC), a national Veteran Service Organization headquartered in Maryland. Since joining the organization in 2016, Jennifer has been responsible for raising $32 million to provide service dogs and life-changing therapy for more than 5,000 Veterans coping with invisible wounds of war. That financial support and her skill in forging strategic partnerships, helped WCC grow from 5 program sites to 15 today across the country. In addition to WCC, Jennifer previously served as Director of Development and Deputy Director of Membership at Blue Star Families (2013-2015), also a national nonprofit organization focused on supporting Veterans and Military Family Members.
An Air Force spouse of 25 years, Jennifer and her family have lived in Europe, Asia and many US states. Throughout her husband’s deployments and frequent moves, she dedicated extensive professional and volunteer service in support of Military Families. While stationed in Italy with her husband, Jennifer worked for the United States Air Force to create a federal employee volunteer mentoring initiative for youth.
As Director of Aviano for America’s Youth (1996-1999), she established a model that was adopted by the Department of Defense (DoDEA) Schools as its standard for training adult volunteers to provide tutoring and career-focused mentoring to hundreds of Military Children stationed overseas. For her efforts, she was named the 31st Fighter Wing Civilian Specialist of the Quarter in 1999, and 31st Support Group Civilian Specialist of the Quarter in 1998 and 1999.
In addition to experience within the Veteran community, Jennifer has held various posts in development, marketing, communications, and volunteer management in the higher education sector. She served as Development and Communications Officer at George Mason University (2015-2016); Manager of Advancement Communications at Wright State University (2001-2004); Publicity and Policy Consultant at the University of Michigan’s Center for the Education of Women (1999-2001); and Director of Public Relations and other roles at Stephens College (1993-1996). Her work in these areas earned many national industry awards, including a Daily Points of Light award from the Points of Light Institute—the world’s largest organization dedicated to solving serious societal problems through voluntary service.
At both Wright State and Stephens College, her department’s publications earned Admissions Marketing Report Awards and CASE Awards for Exceptional Achievement. Jennifer has a Master of Public Administration from the University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy (2000), and a Bachelor of Science in Communications from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri (1994).
During her education, Jennifer interned at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and later was a University of Michigan School of Public Policy Graduate Fellow and a Graduate Teaching Assistant. As a student at Stephens College, Jennifer served as editor of the campus newspaper; President of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA); and earned the Columbia Insurance Group Public Relations Award (1994); and Journalism Award (1994). Her volunteer work has included board position with Military Spouse Clubs at Kadena Air Base, Japan; Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Buckley Air Base, Colorado; Aviano Air Base, Italy; Randolph Air Base, Texas; and Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. She has also volunteered with the USO, Operation Support Our Troops, local community groups, her children’s schools, and Stephens College.
Today Jennifer lives in the Washington, DC, area with her husband, Colonel David Wilder (USAF Ret.), and WCC’s Smith and WCC’s Eli—both ambassador service dogs. David is the Senior Director of Washington DC Facility Operations for Virginia Tech. Her oldest son, Jack, is currently a junior at Pennsylvania State University, and her youngest, William, is a freshman at the University of Michigan.