31 Dec Ms. Regina Jackson, President and CEO of the East Oakland Youth Development Center, is retiring after 27 years
President and CEO of the East Oakland Youth Development Center Ms. Regina Jackson has been a community pillar in East Oakland ever since I can remember. The way she was able to transform the East Oakland Youth Development Center into the innovative, technological, intellectual safe haven that it is for the youth still today in the middle of the concrete jungle of Deep East Oakland is phenomenal.
One of my first jobs was working in the EOYDC’s summer program back when I was 20. That’s the same story for at least six of my cousins who also were employed there over the years. My grandmother’s house, the family headquarters, was literally one block away, the pay was good in comparison to what our peers were making, and Ms. Regina’s EOYDC was the one opportunity that we had in our community to be employed, to help our community while employed, and to learn about true selfless community service.