Youth Job Center, a leading youth workforce agency in Evanston, has selected Lucretzia Jamison as its next Executive Director. Assuming her new role this month, Jamison will be responsible for providing overall executive leadership and management of YJC’s day-to-day activities and partnering with the Board to ensure ongoing strategic growth. Jamison will succeed Karen Tollenaar Demorest, who is departing in June after eight successful years leading the organization.
Jamison brings to the post a 22-year career in nonprofits, government and higher education. Her life’s passion has been centered on youth and young adults in workforce focused missions. Currently serving as the Dean of the Dawson Technical Institute, part of Kennedy King College, City Colleges of Chicago, Jamison is responsible for a team of over 40 with a budget of $4.2 million which annually impacts more than a thousand students and residents. The programming of training, community education and grant initiatives serves individuals in the Bronzeville, Englewood, Woodlawn and surrounding communities. Dawson is an academic center for construction technology and is nationally recognized for top quality job training location for the construction industry and its career development programs. An integral part of Jamison’s role there is to ensure that students who have never been exposed to the construction industry learn the field.
“We were seeking a strategic, visionary executive, and confident decision-maker to lead YJC through its next phase of growth and development,” said Board Search Committee Chair Doug Oettinger. “The Board of Directors unanimously selected Lucretzia after a rigorous vetting and decision-making process. She brought complementary experience to YJC’s past and will swiftly lead us forward in to the future and future opportunities to continue our impact for youth and young people.”
In previous positions, Jamison provided extensive managerial leadership and experienced success implementing and monitoring volunteer, academic, vocational and employment programs. Prior to her role at Dawson, Jamison served as the Executive Director (Chicago Campus) for the Center for Employment Training. Additionally she worked as the Director of Workforce Funding for the City of Chicago, where she had hands-on experience evaluating programs and distributing Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funds to underserved communities and trained agencies to successfully comply with grant requirements. She began her career at Junior Achievement of Chicago, a youth organization that inspires and prepares young people to succeed.
Alongside her noted professional accomplishments, she is an active and involved member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority., an avid traveler, and a superhero of a mother to her son, where she is often called to play superheroes and Space Jam.
“I am honored and humbled to have been selected as the next Executive Director of Youth Job Center,” Jamison said. “The mission of YJC resonates with my lifelong passion for helping young people navigate their pathway in life. I look forward to working alongside the Board to ensure our youth can lead positive and self-fulfilling careers, with long-term outcomes that benefit both families and communities.”
Jamison holds a Master’s in Business Administration from DeVry University’s Keller Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Applied Science from Northern Illinois University. Additionally, she has a Customer Experience Management certification from DeVry University’s Keller Graduate School of Management.
Submitted by Kees Alford Executive Search