Victoria Jackson, ’12, State Policy Fellow, Policy Matters Ohio

Victoria Jackson is state policy fellow with Policy Matters Ohio. Jackson is one of eight fellows selected nationally through a highly competitive process by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Her research focuses on K-12 education, higher education, and food assistance policy.

Jackson graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Pan-African Studies from Kent State University in 2012. Her educational and personal experiences as a student in the Department of Pan-African Studies have shaped her orientation to policy research. Jackson holds a master’s of public administration from The Ohio State University.

Prior to joining Policy Matters, she served as an AmeriCorps volunteer with College Now Greater Cleveland, advising high school students at two Cleveland Metropolitan School District high schools on college access. While in graduate school, Jackson worked as a graduate assistant for the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, and for the Ohio Department of Education.

"The Department of Pan-African Studies provided me with the foundation for understanding how historical and contemporary systems of oppression harm and deny Black people opportunity. That perspective combined with the writing and analysis skills I learned shape how I move through the world and my work as a policy analyst. Equally important are the relationships I built with peers and faculty who taught me a lot and encouraged and supported me personally and professionally. My DPAS family has directly helped me with getting a position with AmeriCorps, a full-ride fellowship for graduate school, internships in graduate school, and my current fellowship position with a national policy research organization."