Jessica Solis Aguilar serves as the Policy and Program Manager at the Institute for Emerging Issues, where she focuses on advancing policy solutions that address the state's most significant challenges. She leads research efforts and stakeholder engagement to define key issues for programmatic themes to recommend best practices and implement strategies to drive collaborative action with stakeholders. Jessica received her undergraduate degree in Social Work from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and her Master’s degree in Public Administration from NC State University. Jessica’s previous experience has been working in various youth outreach organizations, nonprofits and college access programs including UNC Wilmington’s MI CASA mentoring Program, and the Juntos 4-H Program. Most recently, Jessica worked as an associate policy analyst with the James B. Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy on the Higher Education team.