Doctoral Grad Accepted to Presidential Management Fellowship

A doctoral graduate student from the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice has recently been accepted into a prestigious federal fellowship program.

Justina Jackson, Ed.D., was recently selected as a finalist for the Presidential Management Fellows Program. The highly competitive program lasts two years and attracts thousands of applicants with advanced degrees from different disciplines. Of 10,000 applicants, only 850 were selected.

During the fellowship, students will work to be appointed to a U.S. Government Agency for training, and at the end of the program, they may also be given the opportunity to become a permanent civilian employee.

“I was just completely shocked. And I was just like, ‘This is your moment. This is your season. This is God opening the door for you. I’m walking in that door and totally appreciative for the opportunities to even get this far,’” Jackson said, describing her feelings upon learning she had been selected.

Jackson graduated with her Ed.D. from NSU in 21’ and her Masters in Social Work from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in 13.’ She is currently pursuing a second Master’s degree in Leadership.

Jackson was told about the program by one of her mentors, and after applying, she interviewed, and then in February, she learned she had been selected as a finalist.

Having her doctorate in Education, Jackson initially aimed to be appointed to a position with the Department of Education, but a former PM fellow with an education background reached out to her and proposed working for the CDC. He described how his skills proved to be uniquely useful in that field, so Jackson considered doing the same.

“I applied for all the opportunities with CDC,” she said. “The jobs range from being a health scientist to a technical grant writer to public health analyst and policy analyst.”

All-in-all, Jackson said she hopes she can make meaningful change with this opportunity.

“I really want to be transformative, not just transactional,” she said. “If I could wave a wand, I would like to be some sort of policy analyst that can actually change the lives of students in a better direction, families in a better direction, whether that’s public health, social services — whatever it is, just actually making a genuine impact and not just surface level.”

Congratulations Justina Jackson! Fins up to you!

Posted 04/09/23