Jalisa has committed a decade of her career in various roles impacting the education of black and brown students. Jalisa began her career as a middle school teacher in Charlotte, North Carolina. During her first year as a teacher,  she participated in her first campaign securing  $132.2 million dollars worth of county funding to support schools serving Black and Brown students. Her commitment to education led her to Los Angeles, where she continued teaching seventh-grade science. After serving in the classroom, Jalisa transitioned to lead a grassroots campaign alongside Black families across Los Angeles. This campaign resulted in the Validated plan which allocated funds and resources to over 14,000 Black students in Los Angeles Unified School District. Jalisa founded The Black Educator Advocates Network(BEAN) to transform the environment, practices, and policies impacting the teaching experience for Black educators. BEAN supports Black educators to take collective action against these barriers and collaborates with school leaders and districts to build anti-racist schools and workforce. BEAN is responsible for creating a Liberatory Black educator retention framework for system leaders and establishing a policy platform locally and statewide based on engaging with Black educators across California. 

Jalisa earned her Masters in Social Work from the University of Southern California and a Bachelors of Arts  from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.