Kayla Jackson ’86, MPA (master’s in public administration) Title: Vice president for programs at the National Network for Youth in Washington, DC Major at MHC: English
Left: Scott Suchman; right: AP Images/Charles Dharapak
To p l e f t : B e n B a r n h a rt
Then presidentelect Barack Obama helps with a renovation project at DC’s Sasha Bruce Youthwork shelter for homeless teens. It’s part of the National Network for Youth.
“I always say my goal is to not have a job to come to,” says Kayla Jackson, vice president for programs at the National Network for Youth (NNY), the national membership association for community-based runaway and homeless youth organizations. Primarily an advocacy organization, NNY supports policies and legislation—such as the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act— that give federal funding to homeless youth groups. Jackson’s main role at NNY is running a Centers for Disease Control (CDC)–funded HIV prevention program called Street Smart, which specifically targets runaway and homeless youth. “Oftentimes you’re telling kids, ‘Delay having sex. Only have sex with someone who you are committed to and whose HIV status you know,’” says
Jackson. “Then you look at street kids who trade sex for money, shelter, food, and drugs. When it becomes part of the street economy, your choices narrow. You have to look at HIV
prevention in a completely different context.” In addition to developing the curriculum for Street Smart, to help prevent HIV and substance abuse,
Jackson has also begun training members across the country—so they can, in turn, train youth workers in their organizations to prevent HIV among runaways. During fifteen
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