Dr. Jessica S. Cobb

Director, Next Phase Program

 

 

 

Education

J.D., Specializing in Critical Race Studies
UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, California

Ph.D., Sociology
UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California

M.A., Sociology
UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California

B.A., Science, Technology, and Society
Pomona College, Claremont, California

 

Experience

Dr. Cobb is Director of Norco College's Next Phase Program. The Next Phase Program provides in-person community college instruction, advising, and academic support services to incarcerated students. The Next Phase Program works in partnership with the education team at California Rehabilitation Center, a level-II state correctional facility for men with an incarcerated population of approximately 2500. The Next Phase program currently provides an instructional track toward an Associate's degree for transfer (ADT) in Sociology and will soon add an additional track toward an ADT in Business.   

Dr. Cobb's career bridges the areas of education equity and criminal justice reform. Her doctoral work in sociology was focused on social and material inequalities in K-12 schooling. Her research was supported by fellowships from UC Berkeley and from the University of California All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity, and she published academic articles in Sociology of Education, Social Science Quarterly, and City and Community. After earning her PhD, she taught sociology as a Visiting Instructor at Pitzer College and became the first Director of Programs at College Access Plan, a nonprofit based in Pasadena, California that provides a path to college success for underserved students. During law school, she held legal internships at UCLA's Civil Rights Project, the ACLU of Southern California, and Stanford Law's Justice Advocacy Project. She coauthored policy reports on student criminalization and on bail reform that have been cited in national news media outlets, including the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.

Outside of work, Dr. Cobb serves as secretary on the Board of Directors of College Access Plan. She is also a member of the Bishop's Committee and the Capital Campaign Steering Committee at the historic Church of the Epiphany in Lincoln Heights, California. She is a runner, a cyclist, and a hiker – most weekends, you can find her exploring the trails of the San Gabriel Mountains.