Region 6 Administrator

Ms. Jackson joins the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) with nearly 20 years of experience working on behalf of youth and families in multiple systems of care. As the Region 6 Regional Administrator (RA), Ms. Jackson is responsible for leading ACF’s strategic initiatives and priorities in our five-state area including Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

Most immediately, LaKesha worked as Senior Director of Operations Management at Southwest Key Programs, Inc., a large nonprofit agency with a $150 million budget headquartered in Austin, Texas. There, LaKesha led strategic operations and management to ensure optimal organizational efficiency and performance, including successfully earning national accreditation status. In addition, she led operational efforts to establish the Unaccompanied Children Emergency Shelters funded by the HHS/ACF/Office of Refugee Resettlement, opening temporary shelters in New Mexico and Florida.

Prior to Southwest Key, Ms. Jackson served in senior roles at Fannie Mae and the National Alliance to End Homelessness (Alliance) and Public Strategies, Inc. At the Alliance, Ms. Jackson introduced and implemented a homeless youth federal policy agenda with emphasis on housing young adults and families transitioning out of the child welfare system, exiting juvenile corrections, or living on the streets.

Ms. Jackson’s served at the Texas Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service (OneStar Foundation) within the Office of the Governor George W. Bush.

Ms. Jackson has a BS in Business Administration/Marketing from Xavier University of Louisiana and a Masters of Public Affairs from the University of Texas, Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs with a Concentration in Nonprofit Management.