WHO WE ARE
Leadership
Dr. Jackson is a lifelong educator, working with students ranging from elementary school to college. She has a Ph.D. degree in Educational Psychology from Howard University and a M.A. degree in Education. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Science from the University of the West Indies and was a teacher in her home country of Jamaica, before completing her doctoral research on educating Black children. Dr. Jackson spent the bulk of her career in the Office of the Multi-Ethnic Student Education at University of Maryland, most recently as an Associate Director leading events and inclusion programming for Maryland's diverse students.
While at UMD, Dr. Jackson also taught Educational Psychology courses to students of various backgrounds, races, ethnicities, countries of origin, cognitive and language skills; religious and political ideologies, sexual orientation, and other aspects of diversity. Dr. Jackson then spent a decade teaching students at various ages and development levels as a Substitute Teacher picking up the baton to help students in Prince George's County Public Schools. Based on her experience teaching in Jamaica and in the United States, at the elementary, middle, high and collegiate level, and at home with her two children who both went to college and graduated with no college debt, Dr. Jackson wrote a highly-revered book on educating students.
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Dr. Jackson's book, Educating a Diverse Multicultural Society, is available on Amazon.
Dr. Jennifer V. Jackson
Executive Director
Faith Jackson
President
Faith Jackson
President
Faith is third year at Harvard Law School, who graduated from Harvard College earning her BA in Economics. After serving as the Student Member of the Prince George’s County, Maryland Board of Education, Faith realized that overworked and understaffed counselors could be supplemented by students and professionals who had themselves succeeded in the college application process. With this idea in mind, she found others who shared in this mentality and passion and began working on building a program for post-secondary advancement. Faith is the author of Diary of a Broke Black Harvard Student, available on Amazon and including her college essays and other writings about the trials and tribulations she overcame as a student at Harvard.
Lauren is an education policy professional and an advocate for using collective impact strategy to improve communities' social capital. She has held research and management positions with a variety of education entities including the Hawaii Public Charter School Network, the Providence Public School Department and the Los Angeles Unified School District. Lauren holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Loyola Marymount University and a master's degree in urban education policy from Brown University.
Lauren Combs
Former Vice President
Katia Diaz
Former Director of Communications
Katia connected our mission to the community as Director of Communications. Her experience in the field includes public affairs support for politicians and community outreach on behalf of government agencies. She received a BA in public relations and journalism from Seton Hall University. She became a fierce advocate of social and educational issues after experiencing firsthand the disadvantages disabled individuals face in the pursuit of a career. Katia currently is a Fulbright Scholar to the Dominican Republic and will pursue a master's degree in foreign education policy at Columbia University.
Zenaida is a medical student at Northwestern University and a graduate of Princeton University, where she studied Molecular Biology with a certificate in Global Health and Policy. She aspires to become a physician and work in healthcare policy across domestic and international settings. She is passionate about correcting inconsistencies in the education system and the dangers of such a system that encourages some to succeed, but allows others to fall through the cracks.
Zenaida Enchill
Former Director of Mentee Outreach
Team
Faith Jackson
President
Briana Knox
Former Director of
Social Media
Briana combined her love of assisting others and her passion for “tweeting”, “snapchatting” and “facebooking” as Director of Social Media. A magna cum laude graduate of Seton Hall University in 2013, Briana set on a path to find a meaningful and fulfilling position. Witnessing firsthand educational inequalities in her own high school moved Briana to immediately accept the position as Director of Social Media with Read Between the Minds. Briana currently works as a Marketing Assistant for a real estate and development company in New York.
You can reach Briana at brianasimoneknox@gmail.com
Megan is a graduate of Columbia Law School and of Princeton University, where she studied Politics with certificates in Latin American Studies and Spanish Language and Culture. Through participating in education-related volunteer projects in Trenton and interning for an education nonprofit last summer, she realized a passion for fighting the injustices in the education system. As mentor coordinator, Megan was an efficient liaison between the mentors and the relevant school personnel.
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Megan Harewood
Former Mentor Coordinator
Sereen Sumner
Former Finance/Fundraising Coordinator
Sereen is a graduate of Hult Business School with a master's and of Roanoke College earning her BA in Business Administration with a concentration in finance and global business. Her goal is to pursue a career in financial dealings and consulting. She feels strongly about using her financial skill set to help urban communities achieve their goals.
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