Lakisha Young
Co-Founder & CEO
The Oakland REACH
Lakisha Young is the Co-Founder & CEO of The Oakland REACH, a parent-run organization with the mission to “make the powerless parent powerful.” The Oakland REACH has conducted over 5,000 1:1s with parents in Oakland’s most underserved communities and trained 450 families in their fellowship program.
She led the vision and development of the Virtual Family Hub, a one-stop shop supporting the economic survival and educational success of families in the network. This first-of-its-kind model was featured in local, national, and international media from TIME Magazine to KQED, BBC News, CNN, Univision, The San Francisco Chronicle, and more.
Ms. Young spearheads major initiatives, including policy initiatives like The Opportunity Ticket which creates a path for vulnerable students to have higher enrollment preference for quality schools. Also, Literacy for All, a campaign that focused on increasing the literacy of entire families.
Ms. Young is a respected national voice on parent advocacy and regularly consults with powerbrokers and everyday people across the country interested in advancing parent advocacy demanding access to quality education.