Jackie was born and raised in San Diego, California. Her journey to academic advising started when she was an undergraduate student and peer advisor at San Diego State University where she earned her B.A. in Communication and Psychology (double major). During college, Jackie spent a summer studying abroad in Florence, Italy and celebrated her 21st birthday at midnight in front of the Trevi Fountain in Rome! After college, she moved across the country from San Diego to Philadelphia where she joined AmeriCorps full-time.
In her first year as an AmeriCorps member, Jackie served as a Team Leader with City Year Philadelphia and led a team of 18-24 year olds in providing daily academic support, after-school programming and community events for high school students and their families as well as engaging in service-learning projects around the city of Philadelphia. In her second year, Jackie joined AmeriCorps*VISTA and worked with PHENND (Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development) where she managed the Senior Projects and maintained multiple community partnerships between students in local universities/colleges and high schools in the Philadelphia area.
Using her AmeriCorps Education Award towards graduate school, Jackie earned her M.S.Ed in Intercultural Communication and her Ed.D in Reading/Writing/Literacy from the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE). While working on her Ed.D degree, Jackie simultaneously worked full-time as a Penn GSE staff member to establish and maintain community partnerships with K-12 schools, non-profits, and community organizations for graduate students to fulfill their teaching, service-learning, and internship requirements. Her dissertation research was both personally and professionally fulfilling as she co-constructed a cross-cultural project with high school students and their teacher in the Philippines and college students with Temple University's Philippine American Council (or TUPAC) to explore and discuss Filipino/a/x and Filipino American identity, history, and cultures.
Jackie's parents immigrated from the Philippines to the U.S. where Jackie and her older sister were born and raised. In addition to her parents, Jackie is grateful for her maternal grandparents who helped raise her, her sister, and cousins. Jackie is the first person in her family to graduate with a doctoral degree in Education and shares this achievement (and every achievement!) with her family and honoring her ancestors. Jackie is also committed to utilizing her academic degrees and professional experiences to continue to work closely with and uplift communities as well as support all students in reaching their personal & career goals.
Jackie has lived in Philadelphia for over a decade and considers Philadelphia as her East Coast home! She loves to explore the city with her older sister and dog (a Cavachon named Ollie). Jackie enjoys finding the best pastries, gelato and ice cream, marveling at art (in museums, murals, and live performances & music) and drinking bubble tea.
Talk to Jackie about:
- Inspirational Quotes
- Filipino culture & Being Asian American
- AmeriCorps
- Fonts other than Times New Roman / Using Canva!
- Journaling & Meditation
- BIPOC-owned businesses & restaurants in Philly