Jayla has been in the field of education for over twelve years in various roles from classroom teaching in urban areas in the United States and abroad, to leading large scale initiatives at the local and state level. She volunteers locally in the queer community through organizing recreational sports leagues and fundraisers for Queer City Sports Tacoma. She did undergraduate work at Morgan State University and persevered through ten years of working her way through and finally graduating with a Bachelors of Arts in History in from the University of Baltimore in 2004. She then went on to earn a M.Ed in Urban Education in 2006. Jayla spent most of her life in Baltimore, MD but has roots here in Washington bringing her back here to live in 2016. Its her experiences coming from an economically disadvantaged family, and living and working closely within marginalized communities, that drives her passion for equity and anti-racism. This is the passion that led her to the Rainbow Center board with a hope to foster relationships, advocacy, and community engagement to that end.