Courtesy of Wisconsin’s Equity & Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB)
On Wednesday, August 12, Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson, Director and Chief Research Scientist of Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB), served as expert panelist at the 82nd Grand Chapter Meeting of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., National Guide Right Town Hall. The Kappa Town Hall took place in New Orleans, Louisiana and consisted of two expert panels on Black Male Achievement and Black Lives Matter.
The Kappa Town Hall was intended to provide attendees with information as to how to improve life and educational outcomes for young men of color in America. Participants were encouraged to use hashtag #KappaTownHall. Jackson’s panel informed participants on how to make Black male achievement systemic in the educational system. Solutions offered included My Brother’s Keeper, (MBK), an effort activated in more than 200 cities nationally, including five within Wisconsin. Jackson advises the White House on MBK through his role as Chair of the Grand Commission on Young African American Males and his leadership in the Wei LAB with the local partnership: MBK Madison. ”I appreciated the invitation to be a part of the Fraternity’s bold step to become a national leader in education. The Fraternity has prioritized working with youth since 1922 with the establishment of the Guide Right Program, which is arguably one of the first mentoring programs focused on Black boys in the country. The Fraternity is going beyond the original commitment by pooling resources to evolve the Kappa League program into the nation’s premiere mentoring program for Black boys. Concurrently, the Fraternity is assembling all of its members in education to focus on the potential of our collective impact on the field. These efforts align not only with my personal objectives, but neatly fit with the mission of the Wei LAB.”
Jackson is an active and Life Member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated. For more than 20 years, Jackson has served in numerous posts of the fraternity, including a five-year term as the Polemarch (President) of the Madison, Wisconsin Alumni Chapter, chair of the education committee for the Achievement Academy, and chair of the Membership Intake and Orientation Process Instruction for the North Central Province. He has also served as a member of the Brain Trust for the Undergraduate Leadership Institute and Undergraduate Board Member of the Provincial Board of Directors for the Southwestern Province of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated.
Jackson’s research, in part, focuses on Black male achievement. In March 2015 he presented at the symposium for Northeastern Province Meeting of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated entitled, “Promise Symposium: A Conversation on Our Boys of Color, Our Community and Our Commitment.” As an extension of his research, Jackson is co-founder and chair of the International Colloquium on Black Males in Education currently in its fourth year. This year’s meeting will focus on “Creating Opportunity Through Education: Re-Engineering the Social Ecosystem for Black Males.” The Colloquium will convene at the University of the West Indies – Mona on October 6 – 9, 2015.
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