Meet Our Team

The Beaufort Digital Corridor is a highly collaborative organization with advisors hailing from the Beaufort tech community and beyond. This allows us to stay lean, relevant and highly responsive to the dynamic needs of our technology entrepreneurs and tech-related businesses. We believe in community-sourced intelligence as the preferred way to operate.

The BDC Foundation Board of Directors sets the priorities for the organization and the Executive Director carries them out. The Leadership team at the Charleston Digital Corridor mentors and assist as needed.

  • Jess O'Brien

    Executive Director
    843-470-3506 EMAIL LINKEDIN

    Jess O'Brien is the Executive Director and de-facto CEO of the Beaufort Digital Corridor (BDC) and Beaufort Digital Corridor Foundation (BDCF). Under her leadership, the BDC has grown from 18 companies in 2021 to 80+ companies today and is recognized as a model for high-wage, knowledge-based economic development.

    Prior to taking on this role, Jess was a digital marketing leader with a proven track record of managing agency teams and clients. She discovered her love of fostering start-ups during a previous stint at an agency located within Atlanta Tech Village. Since then, she has worked with companies of all sizes, from SMBs to national franchises. While Jess' career has taken her across the Southeast, she relocated from Atlanta, GA to Beaufort in 2014, and is proud to call the town her home. Jess served on the BDC as a volunteer Board Member, Secretary and Treasurer from 2018-2020, and has been employed full-time as the Executive Director of the BDC since 2021. Outside of the office, she enjoys singing, writing music, gardening, reading, and taking in the many beautiful Lowcountry views.

  • Angela Coxe

    Program Manager
    843-379-7533 EMAIL LINKEDIN

    Although having grown up in five states, Angela considers herself a South Carolinian as she's lived in SC for the majority of her life and loves the Lowcountry lifestyle. The pursuit of a career in marketing brought her to Beaufort after graduating from North Charleston, SC's Trident Technical College. Thankful for the experience gained from working at another nonprofit and FWDG, Angela looks forward to ensuring tech entrepreneurs at the Beaufort Digital Corridor thrive.

    In her personal life, Angela practices the concept of kaizen, also known as continuous self-improvement, and engages in reading, growing closer to God, and learning Japanese. She plans to travel to Japan once she becomes fluent in the language.

  • Jasmine Vargas

    STEAM Program Coordinator
    512-961-9128 EMAIL LINKEDIN

    Jasmine Vargas is a dedicated educator and military spouse who is enthusiastic about educating the next generation in coding fundamentals. She is an experienced educator with over 7 years of expertise in teaching Python and Scratch to elementary and middle school students. Prior to joining BDC, Jasmine was a Program Leader for Latinitas, a nonprofit 501c(3) organization based in Austin, Texas. At BDC, Jasmine serves as the STEAM Program Coordinator, where she designs coding workshops and educates students on the subject.