Jessica Keach (she/her/hers) uses her professional expertise in research, data, and policy analysis to support practitioners in clarifying educational pathways that lead to meaningful and living wage work. As a Senior Research Associate at WestEd, Keach serves as the Project Director for California’s Adult Education Pipeline, a statewide dashboard that synthesizes data from hundreds of adult education providers to support community-driven planning and program improvement. Additionally, Keach conducts mixed methods research and evaluation studies and develops data-driven tools and resources to strengthen connections between education and work.
She received a WestEd Strategic Investment grant to develop policy recommendations, resources, and a professional community to support WestEd staff in creating visually consistent, accessible, secure, and high-quality data visualizations and dashboards.
Keach has a background in community college workforce development, adult education, and institutional research, including qualitative and quantitative methods. Prior to working at WestEd, she served as the Senior Research and Planning Analyst at Southwestern Community College District where she led institutional dashboard development, community assessments, labor market research, state and federal reporting, and data-centered faculty training programs. In this role, she established a regional model to support governing board review of career education programs. In addition to having experience in the postsecondary education system, Keach has several years of nonprofit research and policy experience with organizations such as the Children’s Defense Fund – CA and Children at Risk.
Keach holds a Master of Public Policy from UCLA, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Bachelor of Science with distinction in Sociology from Southern Methodist University. She is also a graduate of the 2019 YPC Academy, which is a San Diego LGBT Center leadership training program for emerging LGBTQIA+ leaders.