Jessica leads Green Foothills’ advocacy efforts in San Benito County and southern Santa Clara County, engaging on land use issues and development projects to protect the natural resources, rich farmland, and beautiful open spaces of the Upper Pajaro Watershed. She also engages in relevant state-level policy. Her work emphasizes fostering strong partnerships within the community, advocating for inclusivity in the conservation movement, and working collaboratively with interested parties to realize conservation successes. She joined the team in October 2023 as an Environmental Associate and was promoted to Policy and Advocacy Associate Manager in 2024.
Prior to joining Green Foothills, Jessica co-founded and was Co-Executive Director of Terra Cultura, an educational eco-arts farm based in Aromas. She oversaw programming that strengthened community resilience through education and collaborative projects around the intersection of sustainable agriculture, ecology, and the arts. She first fell in love with San Benito County while working for Food & Water Watch on the Measure J campaign to ban fracking in the county. Jessica continued to collaborate with the community in her role as Director of Operations for Rootskeeper, an organization she co-founded to build capacity among grassroots leaders to support the Californians Against Fracking Coalition’s efforts to end extreme fossil fuel extraction in the state.
Jessica holds an M.A. in International Development with a concentration on international food systems from The New School and a B.A. in Legal Studies from UC Santa Cruz. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Aromas Community Grange, and is a founder of the Central Coast Mutual Aid Network. In her free time she enjoys painting, photography, and going on adventures in beautiful places. She feels very lucky to live so close to so many.