Jessica is a fourth-year PhD student. She is a licensed clinical social worker and certified clinical trauma professional with 15 years of practice experience in agency, governmental, and private practice settings delivering clinical services to children, adults, and families. She is committed to research that centers perspectives of Asian American communities in understanding mental health needs, and ways to critically re-imagine new systems of care.

She is a recipient of the competitive CSWE Minority Fellowship Program award which supports the development of promising doctoral students committed to serving the mental health and substance use needs of underserved communities. Additionally, she was awarded the prestigious Penn PhD Presidential Fellowship which supports the university’s most rising and diverse doctoral scholars in the pursuit of research most poised to impact social change. She was also recognized by SP2 with the honorable Hal Levin Award for her meritorious achievements. Jessica is also a nationally sought-after speaker on the topic of Asian racialized trauma. Read her powerful essay here.

Jessica was born in Seoul, South Korea. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Rutgers University and a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University. Additionally, she completed a post-master’s social work fellowship in child and adolescent mental health at Yale University Child Study Center. She lives in South Jersey with her husband and three children.