Jessica Taylor

Director of Post Secondary Initiatives – North Chicago

Jessica Taylor is Director of Post-Secondary Initiatives at the Steans Family Foundation. In this role, her work focuses on creating and strengthening post-secondary pathways to ensure success for North Chicago students, bridging the gap between existing job readiness training, earn-and-learn opportunities, and other workforce programs in the North Chicago community. Her responsibilities also include leveraging opportunities for student exposure to career-related services and support for students who choose to seek and earn a degree or quality credential.

Prior to joining the Steans Family Foundation, Jessica served as Director of Alumni Affairs and as a Post-Secondary Counselor at North Lawndale College Prep High School from 2011 to 2018. In those positions, she was charged with devising and implementing strategies targeted at student exposure and preparation for career opportunities; support navigating financial aid; access to enrichment and extracurricular opportunities; seamless post-secondary transition; and successful student outcomes. From 2007-2011, she worked at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign as a Senior Admissions Counselor.

Jessica graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Speech Pathology and a M.Ed. She enjoys cooking for friends and family and exercising. Jessica and her husband, Randy are parents to their daughter, Aniyah.