Meet Jackie Broxton of Historic West Adams.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackie Broxton

Hi Jackie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My mother died when I was 8 years old. My father was the owner of a maintenance business that was centered in small to medium businesses in Beverly Hills and the Westside. The nature of his business was late nights and early mornings. This was not conducive to providing adequate child care for me.
As a result I experienced multiple residential placements and baby sitters. Unlike foster youth however I did have the security of spending most weekends with my Dad and he was always available to me.
I really believe these experiences provided me with a sensitivity for and to foster youth that has manifested in the work I currently do.
Secondly as a middle school student I knew a young man in my Sunday school class who was a foster youth. His name was Terry and he was always unhappy. He was very smart but he always seemed to be unhappy. He shared with me his desire to live with his mother and not the foster mother he was placed with.
Later in high school I was friends with a girl that was dating him. Their relationship from what she shared was always problematic. My friend seemed to feel he was controlling and dominating.
I always wondered if maybe his early life in the system was not a contributor to the problems he was having at the time.
We began the Biddy Mason Charitable Foundation as a means to provide support to current and former foster youth. We began meeting as a group in 2013. Our initial approach was to design and host events for foster youth.
There was no business plan or strategic plan. We were a group of community people who wanted to make a difference in the lives of foster youth. Unbeknown to us at that time was the road we were about to travel.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road at all.
Initially we were an outreach ministry of First AME Church of Los Angeles. Several of us were members of FAME and had been heavily influenced by the work of Rev. Cecil Murray the retired minister of FAME.
Following Rev. Murray’s retirement the church leadership changed and many members left the church.
In retrospect the prospect of a new ministry was not realized as being necessary in part because there was another group within the church that provided backpacks for back to school and holiday gifts at Christmas for foster youth.
We saw our vision as being more inclusive.
Finally in 2016 we received our legal non profit status and became independent from the church.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am most proud of our scholarship program. We have awarded over 700K in academic scholarship since 2018.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I am sure many would label me as a risk taker. I don’t view myself as necessarily a risk taker. I just don’t always hear the word no.
If I am committed to something I am not going to give up easily or quickly. I will find a way to make it work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.biddymason.com
• Facebook: @theBIDDYMASON
• Twitter: @BIDDY_MASON