Jessica is an associate Extension professor with the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Youth Development. She leads program growth and innovation across Minnesota, with an emphasis on building the capacity of staff and volunteers to conduct and lead local program planning in communities with high concentrations of diversity. Jessica received her master of education from the University of Minnesota with an emphasis on racial reconciliation. Jessica is a certified language arts teacher and a naturalist and has worked with youth in public, private, and alternative schools, in both formal and nonformal settings across the US since 1997.