A third-generation San Diegan, Congresswoman Jacobs attended local public schools before graduating from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a Master of International Affairs degree in International Security Policy and Conflict Resolution.

Congresswoman Jacobs serves as the Founding Chair of San Diego for Every Child, a coalition dedicated to ending the experience of child poverty in San Diego County, which she founded in 2018. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the coalition adapted their mission to serve San Diegans in crisis - mobilizing funding to support child care for essential workers and co-chairing the Equitable Distance Learning Task Force to support students throughout San Diego County.

Prior to her work with San Diego for Every Child, Congresswoman Jacobs served as a Scholar in Residence at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego, and as the Founding CEO of Project Connect, an international education non-profit dedicated to connecting students around the world to the internet. Project Connect was so successful that it has since become a flagship part of UNICEF's work.

Congresswoman Jacobs has also served in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations at the U.S. Department of State, where she focused on conflict prevention and response, countering and preventing violent extremism, and U.S. foreign policy in sub-Saharan Africa; as a foreign policy advisor to Secretary Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign; as the Big Data Lead in UNICEF's Innovation Unit; and as an Electoral Specialist for the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Congresswoman Jacobs serves as the Caucus Leadership Representative, representing the Democratic Members who have served five terms or less at the Democratic House leadership table. At 34 years old, she is the youngest member of Democratic House leadership. Congresswoman Jacobs sits on the House Foreign Affairs and House Armed Services Committees.