Takiyah Jackson (she/her) is the Director of African American Student Development and the Fannie Lou Hamer Black Resource Center at UC Berkeley. She also co-chairs UC Berkeley’s African American Initiative Steering Committee and has been a leader on campus for the African American Initiative since it was actively launched in 2017.
Takiyah works with campus leadership to look at transformative strategies using an equity, inclusion, justice and belonging lens. As the leader of the Black community on campus, Takiyah works with departments and programs across campus to ensure that belonging is threaded through the institution for Black people. She also serves on numerous campus committees aimed at improving and transforming the campus culture and climate. In addition to her leadership roles at the African American Student Development, Fannie Lou Hamer Black Resource Center, and the African American Initiative, Takiyah serves as a consultant to many other institutions across the nation as they are looking to build a similar structure to the one she has created to support Black community members at UC Berkeley.
Born and raised in Seattle, Takiyah has been passionately involved in her community for over 20 years through education, social justice, community engagement, and athletics. Her earlier work in education includes leadership in state policy boards, comprehensive counseling and development programs, career readiness planning, equity programming and professional development programming and facilitation. Takiyah also leads a community group that has provided resources for students and families for over 15 years. She is a whole-person advocate and has worked with schools to incorporate social justice and social-emotional learning and support into the fabric of their schools. In 2012, She was appointed by Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire to the Washington State Professional Educator Standards Board and re-appointed for a second term by Governor Jay Inslee in 2014. In her gubernatorial appointment, her work included regulatory policy-making and oversight of Washington’s system of educator preparation, certification, continuing education and assignment, program implementation of legislatively mandated programs, advocate for policy, programs and resources for students and educators, and strategic advisor to the Governor, the Legislature, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Takiyah graduated from UCLA in the year 2000 and received her master’s degree in Education and Counseling from Seattle Pacific University in 2003. In 2009 she received her National Board Certification in Counseling. Takiyah was a member of the UCLA women’s basketball team that won the Pac-10 championship and made it to the NCAA tournament elite eight in 1999. She was also a 1995 Nike, Gatorade, Street& Smiths, Parade Magazine and WBCA First Team All-American.
Takiyah’s proudest accomplishment is being a mother to her 6 year old son, Weston, who has been a constant presence on the UC Berkeley campus since he was born.
