Jalessa Hurd, originally from Ashdown, AR, has passionately pursued education reform and equity throughout her career in Tulsa. While attending Pepperdine University and earning a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, her love of educational equity began to grow as she taught in preschools with Jumpstart. During that time, Jalessa also joined the DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative, where she secured funding through grant writing and organizing fundraising events to ensure transportation for students to educational partnerships throughout Washington, D.C. After graduating in 2017, she moved to Tulsa to continue her devotion to education with Teach For America as a fourth grade teacher at Celia Clinton Elementary. Jalessa then joined Reading Partners as a Program Manager in 2019 to further her journey of educational justice through encouraging a love of reading with students by empowering community volunteerism. While in Tulsa, she met her fiancé and has 2 sons. Now she is very proud to continue to be part of the THA Familia as an ELA Instructional Manager to further devote herself to educational equity and reform.
