Jessie joined IWHC as a Program Officer in 2014 and oversees IWHC’s grant-making to feminist organizations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East working to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). She has over a decade of experience supporting programs to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, and access to safe and legal abortion.
Prior to joining IWHC, Jessie worked as a Program Officer for Adolescents with International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR). She focused on developing comprehensive sexuality education and youth-friendly services in Latin America and the Caribbean. Jessie also worked for Catholics for Choice in its International Partnerships Division and volunteered for the Batey Relief Alliance in the Dominican Republic.
Jessie holds a Master of Public Health degree from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Science in Spanish and Latin American Studies from Georgetown University. She speaks Spanish.