Jessica was raised Catholic in a small, rural town in Ohio. She earned a BS in Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences from Ohio University and an MS in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Howard University in Washington, DC. She practiced as a pediatric speech language pathologist in Connecticut evaluating, diagnosing, and providing treatment services to children with disabilities and developmental delays before moving to California.
Jessica started deconstructing her beliefs in early adulthood and is now an agnostic atheist and humanist. She serves as the California Secular Advocacy Team co-chair and represents American Atheists in the California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom as well as other coalition and interfaith efforts. She was elected to the Atheist United Board of Directors and currently serves as chair of the Governance and Advocacy committees. She was the recipient of the American Atheists’ Rising Star Award in 2023. Jessica is also an abortion storyteller and a reproductive cancer survivor.