Jill Wissler Eiland, nee Jill A. Wissler, was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1951. In 1973, she earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Oregon State University. She pursued a career in politics and worked on the staff of Senator Bob Packwood in Washington, D.C. In 1981, she earned a master’s degree in business administration from George Washington University. In 1982, she joined Portland General Electric as director of federal affairs, and continued to work in Washington, D.C., lobbying Congress for PGE. She returned to Oregon in 1985, and in 1990, she became director of public affairs for PGE. From 1994 to 1997, she served as vice president and managing partner for The Rockey Company. From 1997 to 2006, she was senior director of government relations for Kindercare Learning Centers. In 2004, she joined the Knowledge Learning Corporation as vice president of corporate communications. In 2006, she became public affairs director for the Intel Corporation in the Northwest Region. In 2017, she joined Gallatin Public Affairs as a managing partner and became senior counsel in 2020.