Jessie Ryan serves as the Associate Director for The Campaign for College Opportunity. She is responsible for leading the Campaign's advocacy and policy efforts statewide, and is based out of the Sacramento office.

Prior to her position as Associate Director, Jessie served as the Campaign's Central Valley Director from 2005-2008. Before joining the Campaign, she was a Circuit Rider for the Great Valley Center's Community-based Assistance Programs (CAPs) working to support activities and organizations that promote the economic, social, and environmental well-being of California's Great Central Valley. Serving as a technical advisor on local issues throughout the 21county region, Jessie provided extensive outreach and capacity building services to rural and underserved communities.

Jessie was recently selected to participant in the 2010 class of Emerge California. Emerge is a political leadership training program designed to identify, educate, and inspire Democratic women who want to pursue a career in politics at the local and state level in California. Jessie was a recent graduate of the Women's Policy Institute, a program offered by the Women's Foundation of California and created to increase the number of women leaders in California who are actively involved in shaping and implementing policies that affect the health and well-being of women and girls. She was a 2005 fellow in the Institute for Developing Emerging Area Leaders (IDEAL) program, which is dedicated to engaging a diverse group of valley stakeholders in strengthening effective public policy decision-making. Jessie was also selected to represent the valley in the Pew Partnership's LeadershipPlenty - a program that teaches participants civic skills such as taking action, managing conflict, building partnerships, and engaging diverse communities in creating long-term positive community change.

In her spare time, Jessie enjoys serving as the President of the board of the IDEAL Alumni Association, traveling, volunteering for political campaigns, and supporting the anti-poverty work of Americorps* Vista.

She attended Sacramento City College, was the recipient of a Kelly Broadcasting scholarship, and holds her bachelor's degree in Broadcast Electronic Communications from San Francisco State University.

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