Janett is Mexican-American and was born and raised in Houston, TX. As a second-generation immigrant, English Language Learner (ELL) and college access are topics that have followed her throughout her life. In middle school, she was placed in an AVID college readiness program, which set her on a path towards attending and graduating from college. With the help of AVID, she successfully applied to an early college charter school where she was able to complete college courses while in high school, graduating with an Associate of Science degree along with her high school diploma.

While attending a college-focused high school, she was introduced to even more resources and opportunities, including QuestBridge, which introduced her to selective colleges that offer generous packages of need-based financial aid. In 2017, she moved to Minnesota to attend Macalester College (after learning about it through QuestBridge) as a first-generation college student, where she graduated in 2021 with majors in Anthropology and Geography.

During her time at Macalester, she was heavily involved in college access and equity work, including interning as a College Access Coordinator at CLUES, working and volunteering with AVID and TRIO Upward Bound, and participating in programming through the Department of Multicultural Life on campus. She was also awarded the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellowship, which provided the opportunity to conduct an independent research project on the local NGO, Mano a Mano, focusing on their community-driven model of international development, as part of her Anthropology major.

After graduating, she continued to expand her qualitative research skills by working for a local qualitative market research agency, serving clients in the healthcare, technology, and financial services sectors for three years. She is eager to bring her expertise to further the work of MnEEP, which is so near and dear to her heart.