Vanessa Jackson's Profile

Vanessa Jackson
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About Vanessa:

Vanessa Jackson is committed to closing the
achievement gap in education by developing
social ventures that drive increased innovation,
opportunity, and happiness for kids in
American public school systems.
Vanessa grew up observing the achievement
gap in action while attending public school in southern California.
She witnessed the inability of many of her less affluent peers to
academically realize similar achievements attained by students of
white-collar families. For the lower income group this disparity
ultimately thwarted their prospects for attending college. Vanessa
grew frustrated with how adults applied double standards and
different expectations to different socioeconomic groups; an attitude
that today strongly shapes and impacts a student’s future.
Vanessa graduated magna **** laude from Princeton University in
2004 with a BA in Slavic Language and Literature and a certificate
in Russian Studies. While at Princeton, Vanessa spent a semester
studying dissident theater in Siberia, played on the women’s water
polo and Ultimate Frisbee teams, and was a member of 2D, the
University’s vegetarian co-op.
After college, Vanessa spent a year in Moscow as a Fulbright fellow,
where she became increasingly aware of deep-seeded dysfunctions
in Russia’s higher education system, a system whose practice of
inequality limited access by young people. Navigating and tolerating
the disparities between Moscow’s “haves” and “have-nots” prompted
Vanessa to reexamine her home situation, sparking a passion that has
motivated her to create greater opportunities for American students
in urban public schools regardless of their race or family resources.

In 2005, Vanessa joined the team at Achievement First, a nonprofit
management organization that starts, supports, and manages a
growing network of high-performing public charter schools in highpoverty
areas of Connecticut and New York City. Vanessa is inspired
by the potential she sees in charter schools as vehicles for increased
innovation and accountability tailored for success in public education
systems. Her work for Achievement First is directed to initialize and
sustain additional high performing schools that successfully serve
growing numbers of at-risk students. This work experience has
deepened Vanessa’s appreciation for the complexity of challenges
facing education reform.

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