Jessica currently serves as the Director of Education at John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) where she oversees the organization’s initiatives to improve postsecondary educational attainment and sustainable career pathways for youth who have experienced foster care or homelessness through policy advocacy, technical assistance, training, and research.
Prior to this role, Jessica served as the Associate Director at JBAY for nearly eight years, during which she spearheaded the Foster Youth College Advancement Project, an initiative of the L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative. In this role, she convened a robust network of leaders across L.A. County to co-design systems improvements to increase postsecondary attainment for youth with experience in foster care, as well as other regional efforts to address homelessness among college students.
Jessica is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and, prior to her work at JBAY, spent nearly 15 years working directly with youth and young adults in direct clinical practice, program management, and program design. Jessica earned her Master’s in Social Welfare, with an emphasis in Organizations, Communities and Policy Settings from UCLA.
