Jessica Kaczmarek joined The James Irvine Foundation in 2015 as a Senior Program Officer and was named Initiative Director in 2020. Jessica is responsible for leading our Priority Communities initiative work. Since 2015, she led the Foundation’s grantmaking in Riverside, San Bernardino, and the San Joaquin Valley. In addition to these efforts, Jessica worked to develop new initiatives in support of the Foundation’s goal to expand economic and political opportunity for families and young adults working but struggling with poverty.

Jessica brings more than a decade of experience supporting leaders of private, public, and nonprofit agencies as they strive to make strategic decisions about their programs, operations, and resources.

Prior to Irvine, Jessica served as the Director of the Office for Strategic Planning and Integration for First 5 Los Angeles. She has extensive experience in program design in the areas of early childhood development, policy change, systems improvement, and building community capacity to achieve long-term change for disadvantaged communities.

Jessica received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Pomona College and her Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Southern California.