Through her upbringing, she learned about resourcefulness, community building, and how to prioritize joy, fashion, and aesthetics from her Filipine mother.

She was an assistant professor at Portland State University in the Art and Social Practice program from 2008 to 2014.

Her practice also explores ideas of group work through looking at music culture and band dynamics.

[5] From 2008 to 2013 Delos Reyes was the co-director of the Art and Social Practice MFA program at Portland State University.

During her time at Portland State University she proposed, wrote, and realized the curriculum and structure for a low-residency MFA program in art and social practice that has since blended the localized program under a flexible residency model.

This model allows students to reside outside of Portland during their course of study and create meaningful work in their communities.

Delos Reyes has also created courses for Portland State University that explore the history of socially engaged art from 1920 to the present, and courses on teaching socially engaged art practice at the undergraduate level.

Art and Social Practice Reference Points is a book series edited by Jen Delos Reyes and produced in conjunction with current MFA students that covers three areas related to socially engaged art: people, thematic volumes, and workbooks.

Working in conjunction with faculty, students select individuals or groups that are influential for socially engaged artists, themes that capture currents in contemporary social art practice, and methods for creative application.