MESA center staff

Josey Sechrist (she/her) joined the WSU Vancouver team as the campus director of SW Washington MESA in June of 2022. Sechrist was raised here in Vancouver and is a proud graduate of Vancouver Public Schools. Sechrist went on to study Mathematics, International Studies, and Spanish at Oregon State University (go Beavs!). Her senior thesis examined language as a barrier to teaching mathematics to English language learners. Sechrist went on to earn a Master of Arts in Teaching from Stanford University with a focus on mathematics and educational equity. Upon the completion of her master’s program, Sechrist excitedly returned to her home community in Vancouver to teach math at McLoughlin Middle School, where she worked for five years prior to joining the WSU Vancouver team.

As the daughter of an immigrant, Sechrist’s advocacy work began at a young age and fueled her passion to support underserved communities. Sechrist has spent her entire professional career advocating for the needs of students and teachers through her work in the classroom and with the Vancouver Education Association (VEA). Sechrist is eager to use her own formative experiences navigating STEM in higher education to connect with the students of the MESA program.