Transforming Leadership: Jackson Grown’s 5th Year
Let’s be honest. We are flooded with “leadership”. Up, down and across the academic and professional ecosystem, there is a seemingly infinite supply of courses, programs, certificates, trainings, schools, activities and books offering almost anyone the title, badge, tag or feeling of being a “leader”. Whether it is a $3,600 online Servant Leadership Certificate from an Ivy League school or a free 30 minute Linkedin training on practical leadership skills, the desire and perceived need to prove oneself as a “leader” has never been stronger.
Without a doubt, whether one is putting together an application for college or hustling on the weekends to build a resume for the next promotion, we are in the age of demonstrating to anyone watching, reading or clicking our ability to take firm command or guide wisely and strategically. To be clear, pushing oneself to understand both themselves and the world around them is a good thing. A very good thing. A healthy society fundamentally depends on individuals, reading, thinking, listening, asking, discussing and reflecting. However, we are in a moment where, perhaps, the clean, crisp branding of “leadership” is as important as the ragged, tired and often frustrating journey of true leadership. We need to ask ourselves whether “leadership”, in a modern sense, is viewed as a box to be checked as opposed to a quality to be lived out.
The 5th cohort of Jackson Grown Leader Fellows and Mentors meets for the first time at the Kickoff on September 12, 2025. Juniors and Seniors from across Jackson and Madison County are introduced to the program and discuss their goals for the year ahead.
Jackson Grown began as a series of articles in the Our Jackson Home magazine. It was a rookie attempt to explore the lives of individuals from Jackson, Tennessee that cut unusual paths in unusual places. They were different. They were doing good things. They were serving. In being different, good and gracious people they were leading the way for others to do the same. For them, leadership was not a course to be taken or a certificate to be posted. It was a life to be lived.
Building on their examples, the Jackson Grown Leader Fellowship is now in its fifth year and has set out to transform how students view the concept of leadership. It seeks to motivate students to live lives of service out of conviction as opposed to recognition.
“We need to ask ourselves whether leadership, in a modern sense, is viewed as a box to be checked as opposed to a quality to be lived out.”
The program has continued to emerge as an important platform for highly promising students to begin their journeys by understanding the complexity of challenges our communities face. At a core level, the program is built on the belief that those currently in positions of influence with strong expertise play a central role in guiding those who will come next. Thus, the Fellowship provides a 2:1 student to mentor ratio as well as an in depth meeting with a professional expert in a topic chosen by the student. Finally, the Fellowship concludes with an offer to speak in front of business owners, education administrators, government officials and non-profit executives. It is here, in front of top community representatives, that students analyze, propose, guide and challenge ways in which we approach some of the toughest issues around us.
On September 12th, the Jackson Grown Leader Fellowship kicked off the 5th year of its journey to transform the concept of leadership and offer some of the community’s most promising students both a channel to learn and a platform to act. Key members of the Jackson Grown Leader Fellowship team spoke.
Representing the lead implementing partner, Matt Marshall, CEO and President of United Way of West Tennessee, shared his personal connection to the city as a fifth-generation Jacksonian. He spoke about how this community shaped him and encouraged students and mentors alike to give back to the city that continues to invest in them. Marshall emphasized that through Jackson Grown, students will not only identify a local issue they’re passionate about, but also present solutions—solutions community leaders are eager to hear and help implement.
As the lead sponsor for the third consecutive year, Leigh Anne Bentley, President of Leaders Education Foundation, highlighted the organization’s mission to strengthen education through a range of workforce readiness tools and support for college-bound students. She encouraged the Fellows that Leaders Education Foundation stands as a firm partner as they continue along their academic and professional paths.
Highlighting the deep value of mentorship, Summer Nicols noted “I have been a part of Jackson Grown since its first cohort started in 2021. I have seen the incredible power that mentorship can have on a student’s life. I have also seen that “growth” flows both ways. Students will not only learn from their mentors, but also teach the adults in the room.” Continuing she said, "I think we are in a time in which all of us, including the highest levels of leadership in business, government and civil society, need to listen and consider new ideas to address long-standing problems which our Fellows encounter everyday.”
““I have been a part of Jackson Grown since its first cohort started in 2021. I have seen the incredible power that mentorship can have on a student’s life. I have also seen that “growth” flows both ways.”
After hearing from the speakers, each of the 27 students and 13 mentors introduced themselves and presented briefly one thing they liked most about Jakcson and one thing they wished they could change. Many praised the strong sense of community and the events that bring people together, such as Jackson Juniorettes and 731 Day. When asked what they would like to change, students voiced thoughtful concerns including the need for more job opportunities for teens and a decrease in community violence.
Kemora Edgeston, Senior Fellow representing South Side High School presents what she sees as some of Jackson and Madison County’s greatest strengths and biggest hurdles.
Chandler Nesbitt, a Junior Fellow from North Side High School speaks about the potential of the Jackson community and how he views his potential to contribute.
Sofia Lopez, representing JCM-Early College High introduces herself to Fellows and Mentors.
This year the Jackson Grown Leader Fellowship seeks to clarify the hazy, popularized concept of leadership. Is being a leader defined by the collecting of boy or girl scout badges, graduation medals, or Board Memberships? Or, is being a leader investing significantly in the service of others wherever, whenever, however and to whatever extent he or she is called? In the coming year, the program will continue to prioritize that which is hard as opposed to that which is popular or easy. It will focus on
Reflection over reaction
Action over passivity
Quality of thought over quantity of words
Depth of commitment over breadth of activity
Meaningful growth over passive participation
Long-term solutions over short-term fixes
These programmatic and individual priorities are not easy. Neither or they are in line with the ways humans and algorithms sort and rank the hundreds or thousands of applications received whether for a seat in a classroom, desk in an office or role in a job. We will continue this year on our journey to better understand transformative leadership through the heads, hands and hearts of the Fellows in our 5th cohort. It is our hope that you will follow along and, perhaps, allow yourself to be challenged as well.
“Is being a leader investing significantly in the service of others wherever, whenever, however and to whatever extent he or she is called?”
Returning for his second year of the Jackson Grown Leader Fellowship, Senior Fellow Alfonzo Garcia of South Side High School reflects on his experience with the program.
Elizabeth Sue Barnes, a Junior from the University School of Jackson stands together with Pautez Freeman a current Mentor and Alumni from the 1st Cohort of Jackson Grown Fellows.
The 5th Cohort of the Jackson Grown Leader Fellowship representing the largest group since the program began in 2021. Students hold a generous donation from the Leaders Education Foundation presented by Leigh Anne Bentley, President of the Leaders Education Foundation.