Managing Director

Jenessa (she/her) was instrumental in launching People’s Tech Project as a spinoff of Movement Alliance Project (MAP) in spring 2022. As Managing Director, she leads the People’s Tech team in building a healthy staff culture, maintaining staff-wide systems and policies, project management and design, and finance and administration. 

At MAP, Jenessa researched and built Mapping Pretrial Injustice, a website that analyzes the harmful and biased ways courts use algorithms to determine people’s freedom. She also coordinated work in several coalitions and steered the MAP project management team through its transitionary period. Jenessa was eager to take on the Managing Director role based on her experience managing complex and collaborative work and supporting fellow staff members, teammates, and students.

Originally from Los Angeles, Jenessa spent over three years in Philadelphia but has been working remotely from her hometown since early 2021. She has a background in education nonprofits, data management, macro social work, and policy research, and loves to tap dance in the California sunshine.