Hi, I’m Jess. I’ve lived in Montgomery County, MD for 4+ years with my spouse and our dog and cat. I’m a transplant from a small, rural town in Western New York state but I’ve lived in places all over the country, including Cleveland and San Diego. My story is similar to a lot of folks in the area who transplanted from other places. My spouse was offered a job in Washington D.C. so we chose to move to MoCo because it offered a unique combination of culture, access, and affordability.
I’ve always been interested in local politics. My grandfather was a local alderman (retired when I came around) and my uncle was both an alderman and a county legislator. Watching them work with the community inspired me to learn as much as I could about local government. I’ve worked on local political campaigns from a young age and in high school I worked as an intern in the county government.
I started MoCo Local so that I could talk to folks that are experts about what is going on in our community. I’m not an expert, but I still want to know what makes things tick and how I can be informed and involved.
Professionally, I’m a Data Analyst/Business Intelligence Analyst. Locally, I helped co-found Queer MoCo where we focus on building diverse, queer community and advocate for community needs. Additionally, I organize within the local queer community.
