Jess was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and first stepped onto the ice at 5 years of age. Growing up, Jess was involved with many sports outside of speedskating such as cycling, cross country running, as well soccer. After finishing high school, Jess continued his journey in speedskating at the Olympic Oval in Calgary while completing his degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary. In recent years, Jess has competed on the World Cup circuit, podiumed internationally and raced at the ISU World Championships in Inzell, Germany in 2019. Jess is currently working towards qualifying for the Beijing Olympics in February 2022.

I chose to support KidSport Calgary because of the impact sport has had on my life. Growing up in sport allowed me to be just be myself, be physically fit and to get comfortable with taking risks. This includes learning how to win as well as how to lose with good sportsmanship and grace. As I progressed in sport, I was able to gain resiliency as well as develop a multitude of skills such as the ability to accept constructive feedback, self-reflect and learn to collaborate with others to achieve a goal. I have made lifelong friends through sport and I want to help provide these opportunities to the next generation of kids.