Originally from Los Angeles, Jessica started fundraising in 1997 and has worked at various organizations focused on increasing educational outcomes for youth of color, including Outward Bound, Level Playing Field Institute and Juma Ventures. Born from an immigrant father and a 1st generation American mother, she was the first to finish college thanks to hard work, her family support network, as well as to the other social biases that benefit Asian Americans.

Since coming to the Ella Baker Center in 2009, Jessica is most excited about combining a systems approach with a deeper sense of political awareness and racial justice framework to find solutions to social problems. She received her Masters in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago and her Bachelors degree from UCLA. On her off time, Jessica can be found playing tennis, cycling in the East Bay hills with her husband, or frisbee-hucking with their beloved pup Kumba.