Jackie Jenkins-Scott
JACKIE JENKINS-SCOTT
President Wheelock College
Jackie Jenkins-Scott believes passionately in the idea that people can make a difference, and she isn't afraid of challenges that can transform institutions. But it is her deep commitment to service that has motivated her to be a leader in two fields ...
that are Boston's hallmark, in public health as president and CEO of the city's historic Dimock Community Health Center and in higher education as president of Wheelock College.
Seeking the presidency of Dimock when it was on the verge of bankruptcy and possibly being torn down might have been a bad idea for even the most ambitious of civic leaders, but for Jenkins-Scott it was a challenge she couldn't resist meeting. "I felt that with the Dimock’s long history serving a socioeconomic and ethnic population that otherwise might not be able to afford care, this just couldn't happen, that there must be ways to revive it and provide high-quality care in the community."
Twenty-one years later (the challenges just kept coming, Jenkins-Scott says), she moved on from Dimock having rebuilt it into a national model with a city campus of new facilities delivering integrated and comprehensive health and human services to more than 40,000 individuals and families in Boston’s Roxbury, Mattapan, and Dorchester communities.
Jenkins-Scott has a bachelor's degree from Eastern Michigan University and a Masters of Social Work from Boston University, was a Postgraduate Research Fellow at Radcliffe, and has been active for years on the boards of several of Boston's leading institutions. But prior to becoming Wheelock College’s president five years ago she had limited experience in higher education.
"When I was thinking about what areas I wanted to move into next, higher education was at the top of the list," she says. "The challenges in both fields are very similar – the need to control escalating costs while providing excellent services, the importance of constantly changing technology in all areas of the institution, the competition for the best personnel and students and faculty while maintaining collaborative relationships with peer institutions.”
Most compelling was the opportunity to change lives and continue serving families and children. "At the end of the day, families are at the center of society, and Wheelock's dedication to educating women and men who have a commitment to its unique mission — to improving the lives of children and families — makes an extremely important contribution to our society and, indeed, the world.”
At commencement exercises during her first year as Wheelock's president, Jenkins-Scott charged each graduate to contribute to the "beloved global community of sharing" envisioned by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to fulfill the words of Mohandas K. Gandhi, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."
Like many other successful Black women coming up during the 60s and 70s and now fulfilling their promise to change the world, Jenkins-Scott credits earlier generations who prepared the way, “keeping in mind that we stand on the shoulders of giants.” One of her heroes is the trailblazing Mary McLeod Bethune, the early 20th-century advocate for African-American women, education, and child welfare. Other heroes in her own family gave her the values she lives by. “My grandparents were farmers from Arkansas, self-educated and the smartest people I have ever known. They instilled in their children and grandchildren a sense of hard work and a commitment to education, church, family and community that has stayed with us all of our lives.” 
Understanding and embracing diversity, says Jenkins-Scott, is one of the most important factors in being a leader and providing the very best quality in education, health, and human services in an increasingly diverse country. "We need more men working on behalf of children and families and more Black students and students from urban communities — the fastest growing segment of the population — who will take their education back to their communities and make a transformative difference as teachers and social workers or in whatever area where they choose to succeed."
Since Jenkins-Scott came to Wheelock, the number of undergraduate students of color has grown from 10 to 18 percent, and the College is making huge strides in opening access to underserved students in the College's neighboring communities. "We have brought on some very talented women and men of color who are developing phenomenal programs to attract and prepare students from the Boston Public Schools for college, providing youth development, mentoring, and scholarship programs that will make attending college not only possible but also a successful experience," she says.
Jenkins-Scott has a reputation for aiming high and following through with success. Boston’s Mayor Thomas Menino has selected her to co-chair his initiative to end the achievement gap in the city's schools. Gov. Deval Patrick has appointed her to co-chair a 10-year strategic planning group for improving education in Massachusetts. And Jenkins-Scott herself has set yet another challenge, to work with passion and commitment to make Wheelock the best educational institution in the country by 2013. She thinks it's a great way to celebrate the College's 125th anniversary of producing graduates who want to change the world.
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