(Program Manager)
Hartford native Ashley Jackson joined the Legacy Foundation of Hartford in 2021 as a Program Coordinator. With a decade of youth development experience, Ashley is motivated to teach young girls about self-esteem and self-confidence in a caring and safe space, while also supporting Legacy programs more broadly.
Ashley is currently the Regional Program Manager at TEACH Connecticut, helping recruit and support prospective teachers in the state by working in tandem with local school districts and educator prep programs. Previous positions included Student Engagement Specialist for Hartford Public Schools and Program & Family Coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club of Hartford. Ashley was selected among the region’s civic, education, and business leaders as a 2023 June Archer/Eleven28 Entertainment 100 Women of Color recipient. She also serves as a Sunday school teacher at Hartford’s Restoration Church of Worship, and in 2023 published Curl Esteem: The Natural Hair Workbook — A Guide To Natural Hair & Self-Confidence.
She says Legacy’s nurturing atmosphere and dedication to students is what attracted her to serve here. “I’ve worked in a lot of after school programs prior to Legacy, and I’ve never seen a program create such a college-going culture like Legacy does,” says Ashley, who holds a B.A. in Urban and Community Studies from the University of Connecticut. “Every scholar that walks through the doors knows that college is attainable and achievable for them.”
Growing up in Hartford but going to school in Simsbury, Ashley says attending college was always the expectation, but admits that she received little guidance on how to accomplish that task. She says the Legacy Foundation lays out the blueprint for students. “My parents weren’t talking about colleges, and my Hartford friends weren’t talking about colleges. So besides the expectation of going, I had no idea what I was doing,” she said. “But Legacy helps students in the process, even before that process, and after.”
