About

Jessica Bacal is the editor of two books, Mistakes I Made at Work (2014) and The Rejection That Changed My Life (2021), both published by Penguin Random House. Her forthcoming book, co-edited with Deborah Keisch, is Pedagogies of Possibility: Supporting Undergraduates to Imagine and Build Futures of Their Own Making (West Virginia University Press). She is Director of Reflective Practices at Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she helps students explore identity and find resilience in community. Jessica also teaches a course called Designing Your Path, which guides students to consider questions like: What is your story? What matters to you? What skills do you need to pursue what matters?

Before her career in higher education, she was an elementary school teacher in New York City, and then a curriculum developer and consultant. She received a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College, an MS.Ed. from Bank Street College of Education, an MFA in writing from Hunter College, and an EdD from the University of Pennsylvania.