Jalen Wise was born in San Francisco and moved to Sacramento as a toddler. His parents decided to move because they felt pushed out by the Bay Area’s skyrocketing home prices. As a child, Jalen witnessed the hard hours his father put into construction and the value of community and social harmony that his mother brought to the City of Sacramento as a Parks and Recreation administrator. Correspondingly, affordable housing, worker rights, the ability to live where you work, and anti-racism and racial equity became issues Jalen was passionate about solving.

Before CNC, Jalen served as a Field Organizer for the Nevada Democratic Party’s Coordinated Campaign in the 2022 Midterm election. He did this as a full-time University of Nevada, Reno student. In this role, he recruited upwards of 100 volunteers for 508 volunteer shifts and 430 hours of cumulative volunteer time from the primary election to election day. Jalen also collaborated with various internal and external stakeholders to facilitate community events across the state and made nearly 2,400 canvassing attempts to recruit participants. As a result of his tenacity and dedication to an engaged and diverse electorate, Nevada secured the victory for various representatives who believe in affordable health care for all, reproductive freedom, and protecting the environment.

Since the Summer of 2023, Jalen has helped lead CNC’s Sacramento phone banks, overseeing a team of six, which has engaged more than 300 residents around heat and water conservation. He has been critical in ensuring people with disabilities and vulnerable populations can seek shelter in cooling centers and save hundreds of dollars a month via water conservation efforts. Jalen is also making sure the undocumented community knows the benefits of applying for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to help access cash back tax credits, driver’s licenses, bank accounts, and build credit that can even help families achieve the American Dream of owning a home.

Jalen graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, and studied anthropology and linguistics. He volunteers with the Yellow Heart Committee, a non-profit organization mobilizing to support the holistic mental health of trauma survivors through policy advocacy, education, and community outreach. He is a proud older brother of twins living with his family and their dog, Milo, and Cat, Charlie.