I Needed to be Able to Save First, with Joi Jackson-Morgan

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Joi Jackson-Morgan. When Joi was eleven years old, she earned her first paycheck as a newspaper delivery person. She distinctly remembers it was for $40.72. Joi wanted to use the money to buy a new pair of shoes. Her mom had different plans. Joi’s mother took her to the local bank and helped Joi open an account and use the money to buy a savings bond. By her mom’s math that bond would be worth double by the time Joi was 18. She was right. That money enabled Joi to buy a much-needed book later on when she was in college. As you’ll hear, this crash course in savings, at an early age, drilled important money habits in Joi that she’s leveraged ever since.

Joi is the Executive Director at 3rd Street Youth Center & Clinic. Joi’s most important contribution to 3rd Street has been her ability to combine insight into the history of the neighborhood with both her formal education in public health and her professional experience. She was born and raised in Bayview Hunters Point, the Southeast sector of San Francisco. She has worked as a math and science teacher at several Bay Area junior high and high schools and as a research assistant on community-based health studies. Joi’s broad experience and education in health and education inform her approach to working with individual youth and the community as a whole.

Under Joi’s leadership, 3rd Street has experienced exponential growth fortifying its standing as a leader in housing and behavioral health services for young people, and recently opened San Francisco’s first TAY Navigation Center for young adults experiencing homelessness. Joi is committed to centering the importance of racial equity and justice to end youth homelessness.

Joi is currently the Co-Chair of the Black/African American Health Initiative on Sexually Transmitted Infections (BAAHISTI). She received her Master of Public Health from Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and her Bachelor of Science in Biology at California State University-East Bay.