COEUR D’ALENE – Lewis-Clark State College’s Tessa Jilot has been selected as a Kootenai County Top 30 Under 40 honoree for 2020, the Kootenai County Young Professionals organization has announced.
Jilot is the Nursing & Health Science Division program advisor at the LC State Coeur d’Alene Center, and also is an adjunct instructor in the Business Division where she teaches both grant writing and fundraising for non-profit organizations.
Each year, KCYP honors young professionals with “tremendous talent for outstanding service to the community, business accomplishments, and overall awesomeness.” Jilot is one of 30 who will be honored during a virtual event in January.
To be considered for the award, an individual was be nominated by someone from the community, must be under 40 years of age by Dec. 31, 2020, and must reside in Kootenai County. Jilot was nominated by Stephanie Vickhammer, an enrollment specialist for LC State at the Coeur d’Alene Center.
After being nominated Jilot received a nomination form to fill out and return. She was one of 150 nominated for the honor and an independent panel of judges reviewed the nominations and narrowed the field down to the 30 winners.
“It is very humbling,” Jilot said of the honor. “I recognized a lot names among the 30 people honored and there are some really amazing people, so to be selected among them is pretty special. The judging panel also had very impressive people on it so to even be considered by them is quite a honor.”
Jilot is heavily involved both in Kootenai County and at LC State. She serves as chair of the Coeur d’Alene Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee and is involved with growth and development focus groups for Envision Coeur d’Alene, which is a collaboration between the city of Coeur d’Alene and Coeur d’Alene 2030. Envision helps with long-range city-wide planning to help Coeur d’Alene with its growth and future over the next 20 years.
Jilot previously served on the board of directors for Emerge, which collaborates with new and emerging regional and local artists to teach and share skills to help cultivate their careers as professionals. She also helped write grants for the group to find a new home after a fire displaces the arts nonprofit group last January.
“Personally, I am passionate about neighborhood engagement,” Jilot wrote on her nomination form. “Our community is experiencing rapid growth and change, and it is easy to overlook the simple act of getting to know our neighbors. Creating deep relationships with those around us is a key way to strengthen the overall community. I would love to see more neighborhood councils in CDA to help bring people together and recognize our common values.”
At LC State, Jilot received the LCSC Spirit Award in 2019. The award is presented to an individual who builds pride and spirit on campus and who consistently demonstrates extraordinary loyalty, commitment, dedication, and service to the college and community. The award is voted upon by the LC State students.
“That award was really a nice pat on the back for me from the nursing students,” she said.
Jilot serves on the college’s Professional Staff Hearing Committee.
Jilot grew up in Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. She then started work as a national park ranger and later for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. She moved to Moscow and earned two master degrees from the University of Idaho in 2013. She enjoys backpacking, hiking, climbing, reading and her family is season ticket holders to the Green Bay Packers.