Jade Marcus Jenkins
Jade Marcus Jenkins is an Assistant Professor at the University of California Irvine School of Education studying early childhood policy. Her work is multidisciplinary, focusing on issues that are amenable to educational and social policy intervention, using diverse research methods to evaluate programs and understand the mechanisms that promote child and family wellbeing. Jade grew up in New York, and received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Florida in Family, Youth and Community Sciences, and Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After the M.S. program, Jade worked at a quasi-governmental nonprofit in Florida’s early childhood care and education system. This firsthand experience in policy implementation was her primary motivation to pursue a Ph.D. in public policy and specialize in early childhood development to learn how to evaluate and develop policies that provide support for families with young children and reduce poverty in the long-term.