Jessica Thach

As an Oakland native, daughter of Southeast Asian refugees, and first-gen college graduate, Jessica is rooted in bridging academic research and community praxis into her role as a college access practitioner-scholar. Jessica’s moment of impact that defined her purpose for this work emerged from being a product of two college access programs and being mentored by Southeast Asian educators. Not only has Jessica supported multiple generations of students from the Bay Area to the Greater Los Angeles Area in the capacities as a college adviser and college writing instructor, she is invested in increasing the number first-generation, low-income, and historically underrepresented students who succeed and thrive through the education pipeline. Jessica is also a proud double Bruin – she graduated from UCLA in 2015 with a major in Asian American Studies and a minor in Education, and in 2018 with a Master’s in Higher Education & Organizational Change. Jessica enjoys babysitting her little cousins, photography, event planning, and arts & crafts/DIY projects.