Jenele Grassle leads Alumni Career Services at St. Olaf College. She arrived at St. Olaf in 2018 following a diverse career in merchandising, marketing, human resources and, most recently, higher education. Jenele began her career as a recruiter with IBM, after which she joined The Pillsbury Company in brand management. While at Pillsbury, Jenele worked on the development and extension of products including cinnamon rolls, crescent rolls, and pie crust, hanging out in the test kitchen as often as possible.
As a merchandising executive at Dayton Hudson, Marshall Fields, Carlson Marketing, and Bluestem Brands, Jenele held leadership roles directing teams in the design, sourcing, and procurement of fashion products. Jenele sits on the Fashion & Apparel Advisory Board at St. Catherine University and is an adjunct professor at the University teaching courses in Fashion Merchandising and Design.
Since 2001, Jenele has served on the Board of Directors of Winmark Corporation. As a publicly traded corporation, Winmark creates, supports, and finances businesses through their expertise in franchising and leasing. She is a member of the compensation committee and leads the nominating committee for the corporation.
Jenele grew up in Iowa where she earned her undergraduate degree in Industrial Administration from Iowa State University. She later received her MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and most recently completed a Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of St. Thomas.
In her role at St. Olaf, Jenele works with alumni providing one-on-one assistance as well as delivering relevant career programming. She looks forward to working with Oles through all stages of their career journey, from the years right after graduation through mid-career transitions to encore careers.