Jessica Dean grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and developed her career through local television news. She graduated from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in 2006 with a degree in broadcast journalism. She began working as a general assignment reporter in Fort Smith, Arkansas, before moving into anchoring and political reporting.

Dean subsequently covered state politics and legislative affairs in Little Rock. She later joined KYW-TV in Philadelphia, where she co-anchored the weekday evening newscasts. Her reporting covered major political events, such as the 2016 presidential election and Pope Francis’ 2015 visit to the United States.

She joined CNN in 2018 as a Washington correspondent and later served as a congressional correspondent on Capitol Hill. Dean covered Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and transition, while also filling in as an anchor across several CNN programs. In July 2024, CNN named her anchor and correspondent for the primetime weekend edition of CNN Newsroom, a role that combines studio presentation with field reporting.