Jessica Perez is assistant editor for the news desk at the Los Angeles Times. Prior to joining The Times in 2017, she spent a year as a journalist in residence at USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism. She also worked as a digital producer at NBC Los Angeles and was the deputy editor of Boyle Heights Beat, a bilingual community newspaper. Perez is passionate about breaking news and building trust with communities. She was born in Mexico and raised in Los Angeles and holds a degree in journalism from Cal State Long Beach.