Jessica Black

My career in higher education administration began at a public state college when I was a work-study student at the financial aid office while pursuing my undergraduate degree. After getting my B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Business Administration, I worked for state government employment services. However, my true calling led me back to my roots in financial aid. As the Assistant Director of Financial Aid at a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, I fostered educational access by overseeing a wide variety of daily operations. These included processing aid applications, establishing cross-departmental partnerships, matching scholars to endowment funding, and meticulously managing multiple funding streams for a diverse student population. Coming from a disadvantaged background as a Vietnamese immigrant and first-generation college graduate, my passion for improving student access to postsecondary educational funding runs deep.