Jessica Keach

SR RESEARCH & PLANNING ANALYST, SOUTHWESTERN COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT

Jessica currently serves as the lead researcher for continuing education and workforce development at Southwestern Community College. She has worked for several nonprofit advocacy organizations, including the Children’s Defense Fund, the American Lung Association, and Children at Risk. Jessica is a native San Diegan with a passion for using data-driven decision-making to improve the lives of vulnerable youth and their families.

Jessica earned her Master of Public Policy from UCLA where she was awarded the Luskin Leader Fellowship and completed her thesis on employment barriers for opportunity youth in Los Angeles. She also holds a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S. in Sociology from Southern Methodist University. At SMU, Jessica was awarded the Outstanding Sociology Senior Award and the Betty Janette Maynard Award for her research on gender equity in athletics.

Dedicated to creating spaces for young and emerging advocates, Jessica served on the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of San Diego’s Advisory Board as Programming Chair in 2018 and on the Executive Committee in 2019. She is also a member of the YPC Academy’s Class of 2019, which is a leadership development program of the San Diego LGBT Center. Outside of work and volunteer commitments, Jessica enjoys spending time with her partner and their anxious rescue dog, Almond.