“Everything you need is already there, inside you. Try.” – Jess Duncan, Director of Career Development and Innovation.

January 12, 2026

Castleton Grad Hopes to Inspire and Encourage the Next Generation at Vermont State University

Through every chapter of her journey, Jess Duncan has carried forward a lesson shaped by her own experience: that failure is both inevitable and essential. “Failure has been my best teacher,” she says. “The most unwelcome one! But it’s where the most important lessons come from.”

It’s a message she brings to her work as the Director of Career Development and Innovation at VTSU as well, where she leads a cross-campus team focused on developing employer partnerships, connecting students with meaningful career opportunities, and supporting them as they navigate their own unique path from college to career.

“If my students take away one message from their work with me, I want it to be this: ‘You are exactly enough, exactly as you are. Everything you need is already inside you—you just have to keep going. Take the shot. Make the call. Send the email. You don’t know what’s possible until you try.’”

Jess speaks from her own rich experience navigating life decisions that hinged on that one little word: try.

Her own path to higher education may feel familiar to some of her fellow Vermonters. For starters, she had sworn as a high schooler that she would never attend her local state college. Castleton State College (now the Castleton campus of Vermont State University), she thought, was too close to her family’s home in Fair Haven. “I was going across the world with big plans and big dreams,” she says. But after a season-ending injury jeopardized her pending athletic scholarships her senior year of high school, she felt lost and discouraged, like maybe she wouldn’t be heading to college the following year after all.

Her civics teacher, Curtis Hier, pulled her out of class one day and walked her down the hall to an admissions event with Castleton staff. Jess didn’t have an application or an essay. “Try,” he said. Curtis stood behind her while she completed both, and walked her back to the admissions event. She was accepted on the spot.

“That moment changed everything,” she reflects. “It gave me a life I didn’t know I could have.”

Jess began at CCV for financial reasons, then transferred to Castleton where she found lifelong friends, discovered a love of storytelling, and began to understand the power of education to expand a person’s sense of the possible. It was an experience she hadn’t imagined she could have just miles away from home.

Shortly before graduation, a professor, Dr. Chris Boettcher, handed her a copy of Mountains Beyond Mountains and encouraged her to read the book and explore the message therein.

“I stayed up all night reading,” she says. “The next morning, I was inspired to say the least, and told him that I wanted to do something to help people change their lives. And he said, ‘Then why don’t you?’”

That encouragement set her on a new path. After she graduated in 2011 with her B.A. in Literature, the urge to travel took hold and she joined a student service trip to El Salvador, where she helped raise over $68,000 for a small school there. It was the beginning of a career focused on human connection and fostering personal empowerment and the full scope of opportunity in each student whose path crossed with hers.

Jess’s professional life deepened her understanding of people, systems, and institutional change. She served as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Castleton’s early-access college education initiative; supported community members seeking employment as a Community Support Team Coordinator at Rutland Mental Health; and spent several years at Green Mountain College, ultimately becoming Registrar and Director of Institutional Research. When the college closed, she helped manage its final records and transcript distribution, work she describes as “heart-wrenching but deeply meaningful.”

After, she returned to Castleton through a Title III grant, from which she helped launch creative internship pathways, experiential learning opportunities, and career readiness initiatives. “I realized that creativity, innovation, and technology were my strengths,” she says. “And they aligned perfectly with helping students take their next steps.”

Three individuals wearing graduation caps and gowns are standing together on the steps of a brick building with white columns. One person in the center is wearing a green and gold stole over the gown. The group is posed closely, with arms around each other, in front of a staircase leading up to the building entrance.
A large group of people is gathered on the steps of a brick building with tall white columns at night. Many individuals are holding lit candles, creating a warm glow against the dark sky. The building has a cupola at the top and an American flag visible on the left side. This appears to be a candlelight vigil or ceremonial gathering.
A group of people is gathered behind a long table covered with a banner that reads “CASTLETON ALUMNI ASSOCIATION.” Several individuals are wearing green shirts with “Castleton” printed on them, while others wear red aprons with “50/50” and pricing details in white text. The table has a cash box and some money visible. The setting appears to be outdoors, possibly at a fair or alumni event, with trees and vehicles in the background.
A group of people is outdoors participating in an activity with children. Several individuals are wearing white T-shirts with a logo that appears to say “Castleton.” One person in the foreground, wearing a red bandana and khaki pants, is interacting with two children. The background shows more children and adults gathered, some seated and others standing, in what looks like a community or outreach event.
Three individuals are standing indoors near a doorway. One person is wearing a blue and black plaid shirt and a cap, another is dressed in a black and white patterned blouse with a black cardigan, and the third is wearing a black graphic T-shirt featuring bold white text and an image. The setting appears to be a hallway or meeting space with light-colored walls and wooden doors.
A family group stands under a large wooden pavilion with green tablecloth-covered tables arranged in rows. The group includes four individuals: one child wearing denim overalls and pink Crocs, an adult holding a toddler dressed in green and white, and another adult standing beside them. Two of the adults are wearing matching green hoodies with “Castleton” printed on the front. The pavilion has exposed beams, hanging lights, and open sides showing trees with autumn foliage.

When Castleton unified with its sister institutions to form Vermont State University in 2023, Jess was excited to see the Director of Career Development and Innovation role posted. “The job description felt like it had been written for me,” she shares. “It was everything I had been building toward throughout my career: supporting students, strengthening systems, and designing opportunities that change lives.”

She put herself out there and she got the job. Today, Jess leads a statewide Career Development team that includes three additional full-time staff members, each serving multiple campuses and bringing unique expertise in faculty engagement, employer partnerships, and student technology resources. Together, they’ve navigated the transition from independent institutions to an integrated, multi-modal, and statewide team.

“It’s like marrying into a big, diverse family,” she says. “We were all used to being directors of our own campuses. It took time, failure, and a lot of iteration to build common policies and processes. But now we’re a true team and we are nimble, collaborative, and focused on what today’s students need.”

That shift has opened doors for students across VTSU. Employers who once recruited at only one campus now connect with students from all locations. Career fairs serve the entire university. And partnerships reflect the full range of programs across the state. “Our regional base grew, our opportunities grew, and our students’ access grew,” Jess says. “And employers are excited because they want to work with ALL of our students.”

Her commitment to VTSU is personal as well as professional. A third-generation Castleton graduate, Jess lives today in Poultney with her husband and two children. Her husband is currently a student in both VTSU’s Apprenticeship program and Multidisciplinary Studies program, and Jess herself is completing her MBA. She also serves on the Castleton Alumni Board of Directors. She treasures campus traditions, especially the candle-lighting ceremony on the steps of Woodruff Hall.

The complexity of managing her own career, family, and MBA is, “a lot,” she laughs. But she’s living by her own advice and giving it her best shot .

Still a traveler at heart, Jess notices now that she is always drawn back home to Vermont. “I love to see the world, but when I return to Vermont, I’m always reminded why I’m here. The people are resilient, kind-hearted, and extraordinary. This is my home. And helping our students build their futures and become the next generation of change-makers, there’s nothing more meaningful than that.”