Jakeyah Gadson -

Jakeyah Gadson

Master of Public Administration (MPA)

Jakeyah Gadson is a graduate of Clayton County Public Schools in the Metropolitan Atlanta area. From there, she matriculated to Florida State University where she majored in Creative Writing and Humanities. While there, she was heavily involved. Jakeyah is a member of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity where she was the Vice President and Scholarship Chair. Jakeyah is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc where she served as the Scholarship Chair. In addition to that, Jakeyah served as the Professional Development Chair and the Master Coordinator for the Black Student Union. Jakeyah is also a member of Seminole Torchbearers. During her time at Florida State through her involvement with her organizations as well as her comparison to the type of K-12 education experience she received, Jakeyah was quickly able to see the correlation because economic status and quality of public education available. It was then that she decided she wanted to go into public service through Teach for America–where she now teaches high school English in Atlanta. While teaching, Jakeyah sees on a daily basis where the public school system is succeeding and where it could use work. That, along with the desire to grow as a public servant leader lead Jakeyah to join LEE (Leadership for Educational Equity). Through this program Jakeyah continues to learn and serve, participating in initiatives such as the Black Corp Member Summit and the Diversity in Public Leadership Summit. Jakeyah also serves in a variety of capacities in Teach for America–including School Operations Director for the Nashville 2019 Institute.

Education

Bachelor of Arts-Florida State University-2017-Creative Writing and Humanities

Jakeyah graduated from Florida State University in May of 2017. While there, she double majored in Creative Writing and Humanities with an emphasis on African American Students, Communication and Philosophy.

More About

Career goals:
My goal is to have a career working in education advocacy and policy. I specifically want to work with low income school districts in metropolitan areas. I would like to work with district and school officials, administration and staff to determine how to bring relevant resources and programs to these schools to help them propel the students in all subjects helping them to become globally competitive. In the same interest, I would like to work with these schools to advocate for funding to enhance the extracurricular aspect of them; bringing different programs, clubs, and activities to the schools to allow students opportunities to explore their interests and determine passions both academically and socially. I also would like to work to enhance the metropolitan communities that these schools are in–not only providing resources to students, but to families, businesses and community leaders in the areas of education, economic and community engagement.

Work experience:
I currently teach high school in Metro Atlanta. Here I am the Freshman Class Sponsor as well as the chair for our county elevator pitch competition.

Of Note

Dean’s List: Fall 2013 and 2014; Spring 2014, 2015, 2016; Spring 2017. Seminole Torchbearer.

Research Interests

I am interested in researching education and economic disparities in low income areas, housing, and civil rights.