Program Manager, Connected Schools
District of Columbia Public Schools
FOCUS
Jackie’s work lies at the intersection of innovation and community. As the leader of a community school initiative within a public high school in Washington, D.C., Jackie believes that her school can be the space families view as a neighborhood hub for resources, as well as for restoration, healing, and a quality education. Jackie’s vision for a Culture of Health constellates around equitable access to resources for families: support in accessing them and care in connecting to them. Jackie believes that impactful change occurs via authentic community and family engagement, mental health, healing-centered practices, and strong support systems with place-based services.
STRATEGIC INITIATIVE: Economic Opportunity Through Career Transition Planning
My strategic initiative aims to create healthier and more equitable communities through opportunities for higher financial earnings. My structural focus is to build capacity by providing a toolkit and recorded podcasts aimed at supporting black educators, counselors, and social workers who are transitioning into the tech sector. The education field is arguably in a state of crisis. Due to the pandemic, current working conditions within schools put black educators, social workers, and counselors at more significant stress- and trauma-related health risks. The Great Resignation/Reevaluation of Values leads many people to consider how to balance life and work more healthily. There are vast pay and equity structures between education, social work/counseling, and tech, with many transferable skills, roles, and opportunities. Building generational wealth can lead to vastly improved health outcomes for future generations. The long-term impact is for the selected community to gain clarity around resources. Intended long-term results include higher salaries, greater access to healthcare and paid time off, remote work possibilities, and more significant opportunities to access experiences and resources that allow for rest and recovery.
MORE ABOUT JACKIE
Jackie’s identity rests in being a connector, equity warrior, disruptor, and intersectional feminist. She developed into herself in a plethora of roles serving students and families across the U.S. as a special education teacher, college access facilitator for first-generation students, and through Peace Corps service with girls’ gender empowerment and youth experiencing homelessness in the Dominican Republic. You will often catch her trying or learning something new, and that’s what attracted her to the Culture of Health movement: to be in community with visionaries who genuinely love people.
JACKIE’S WORK AND VISION
- 3 Heroes in the DC Public Schools (The Al Franken Podcast)
- Testimony on SEL and Connected Schools
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