Alumni Spotlight: Emily Jackson

21CL Alumna Emily Jackson, better known by her artist name EmmoLei Sankofa, is our Alumni Spotlight for October 2021. A graduate of Westlake High School (2008), of Hampton University (2012) and of Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) (2014), Emily is an emerging talent and active voice among the next generation of music industry leaders. She and her work have been featured on various platforms, including Lyrical Lemonade, LANDR, Saint Heron, OC Weekly, The Recording Academy, Gender Amplified, Billboard, and more. She is an alumna of The Recording Academy’s 2021 NEXT program. In her post, Emily says that she is grateful to 21CL for creating a hub for future leaders to grow and learn from each other. She was one of the 21CL Alumni who volunteered at the 2021 Charity Golf Outing this month and was one of the sponsors of the game!

Paint a brief picture of what you are doing now.

I am Emily Jackson, better known as EmmoLei Sankofa, an American composer, producer, musician, and artist whose work stretches across music, visual media, and fine art. A 2021 Sundance Composers Lab Fellow, I had the opportunity to work closely with Film and Television composers on my craft. Creative Advisors for the intensive include Kathryn Bostic, Laura Karpman, Blake Neely, Heather McIntosh, George S. Clinton, Mychael Danna, Jeff Rona, and Christopher Willis. I have collaborated with some of the best emerging and award-winning filmmakers, including Rhea Dillion, Jonathan Lewis, Imani Dennison, Sekani Solomon, Ajiri Akpolo, and more. My original music has been heard via screenings at HBO, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., the Oakland Museum of California, and film festivals in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Savannah, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Laughlin, and beyond. I have also worked with top brands like Nike, Vans, Buzzfeed, Pandora, Kamala Harris for the People, Pulse Films, and more via my creative audio company, Bèl Son.

My discography encompasses over twenty-one independently released albums, EP’s, and singles collectively and embodies a mixture of genres but often integrates soul, jazz, classical, and rhythm and blues. My single, “Don’t Fight,” was recently included on Adult Swim’s OPUS compilation album. As a musician, I have performed with Nelly, Ella Mai, Kurt Schneider, and more and recently had her debut performance as a solo act on Mobley’s “Devil in a Daydream” Virtual Tour. I was invited to participate in the 2021 “Songs of Pride” songwriting camp, hosted by Universal Music Publishing Group, where I collaborated with emerging songwriters/artists Amanda Cygnaeus and Nate Traveller.

I just wrapped the score for Horror Noire, a six-story anthology film, due to release on Oct. 28th on Shudder, the upcoming season of Step Up: Highwater on Starz alongside Stephanie Economou, and I am currently working on a docu-series at Amazon.

How did participating in 21CL transform you and lead you to where you are now?

During my high school years, I participated in the Winter Summit, Fall summits, in the 21CLub at Westlake HS and in the Summer Leadership Institutes. 21st Century Leaders was a step in the journey and a piece of my story. It gave me a space to nurture relationships, refine my leadership skills, and get in the practice of giving back to my community.

How did the skills/tools/perspectives you acquired from 21CL prepare you for your next steps, going into college and taking on leadership roles, heading into a new era of professionalism?

21st Century Leaders really taught me the importance of and connection between leadership and service.

What is your memorable or ‘aha’ moment in 21CL? (Particular program, meeting a professional and diverse peers, speaking in public for the first time, etc.?)

I do cherish all of the community service events we did. The one that jumps out at me immediately is when we repainted the main stage at Dad’s Garage Theater and now, my fiancé has a mural on the side of their building – Full circle moment! I also really cherish other simple projects that made big impacts like clearing Kudzu at the Atlanta Food Bank and painting single family homes with Habitat for Humanity.

Did 21CL assist you in developing a leadership style that makes you an effective leader? if so how? And have you recently learned something else about leadership? Please share!

I’ve always been a leader, so I believe the most important thing 21st Century Leaders did was to connect and expose me to future leaders and people that I could look to as I refined my leadership style. Creating a hub for future leaders to grow and learn from each other introduced a synergy that the world is feeling the impact of today.

Alumni Spotlight: Cristy Jones

Our first alumni spotlight for April 2020 is Cristy Jones, a graduate of Westlake High School (2014) and of Spelman College (2017). After graduating from Spelman, Cristy was selected among many applicants for the Cleveland Foundation Public Service Fellowship and served as a Culture and Strategy Fellow at Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) supporting the implementation and expansion of district-wide talent initiatives designed to improve educational outcomes for 39,000 of Cleveland’s public school students. Cristy currently serves as a Talent Management Partner with Cleveland Metropolitan School District and is a graduate student at Cleveland State University. She was also a 2014 Georgia Youth Leadership Award winner!

Paint a brief picture of what you are doing now.

Currently, I serve as a Talent Management Partner with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in Cleveland, Ohio. By embracing the challenges of leadership, I have been able to successfully impact the lives of our scholars and flourish at Cleveland Metropolitan School District by assisting the Talent team in hiring excellent teachers, principals, and education administrators from diverse backgrounds. Working alongside CMSD leaders, I strategically support 88 central office hiring managers to improve staffing and talent management outcomes by counseling educational administrators on a broad range of human resources issues including professional development, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, retention and employee relations. My work extends from managing our Cleveland Teaching Fellows program to launching one of the District’s diversity pipeline and retention programs, Men of Color sHaping Academics (MOCHA), which was established in 2018 to create programming designed to increase engagement, retention and leadership rates for male staff of color within Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

How did participating in 21CL transform you and lead you to where you are now?

21st Century Leaders played an integral role in my formation as a leader. Before participating in my first summer leadership camp in 2011, the G5 @ Goizueta Program (now called SYLI) at Emory University, I had great leadership potential but I was very insecure about my ability. G5 @ Goizueta was my first opportunity to cultivate relationships with like-minded individuals who shared similar college and career aspirations. Once I completed the program, I was hooked. From that experience, I participated in Leadership Unplugged, served on the 21st Century Leaders Youth Advisory Board, and with the Music Legal Department at Turner Broadcasting as the Turner Voices Intern. During my senior year at Westlake High School, I was honored at 21CL’s Georgia Youth Leadership Awards as a 20 Under 20 award recipient. Participating in 21st Century Leaders enhanced my self-esteem, my comfort with public speaking and challenged me to take on more leadership roles.

How did 21CL prepare you for your next steps? Going into college and taking on leadership roles, heading into a new era of professionalism, etc. What skills/tools/perspectives have helped you along the way?

21CL’s leadership institutes enhanced my commitment to service and leadership within my school and community, and as a result I was selected to be a part of Spelman College’s Bonner Scholars Class of 2018. The Bonner Scholars Program is a service-based scholarship that is awarded to students who exemplify an attitude of servant leadership, a commitment to creating solutions for positive change in our society, and a passion for leading others in service. As a Bonner Scholar, I have served as a Teaching Assistant for Spanish classes at M. Agnes Jones Elementary, a Congressional Intern for Congressman John Lewis, and on the Summer Leadership Team for 21st Century Leaders. The Bonner Scholars Program has instilled invaluable life lessons and allowed me to engage in stimulating dialogue through seminars and workshops while bonding with other students whose passion lies in service.

While at Spelman, I interned with NBC Universal for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This experience was mainly inspired by my participation in 21st Century Leaders’ Leadership Unplugged Program with CNN in 2012. When I was in Leadership Unplugged, I was fascinated by CNN’s commitment to journalistic integrity during the summer broadcast of the 2012 Olympics and I desired to receive an international internship that provided similar leadership training and exposure that I received within 21st Century Leaders. The networking skills, elevator speeches, and business principles that I learned in 21CL helped me stand apart from my peers in Rio and led to my success in the NBC internship program.

After graduating from Spelman College in May 2017, I was selected as a 2017-2018 Cleveland Foundation Public Service Fellow and a Talent, Culture and Strategy Fellow at Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD). The Cleveland Foundation Public Service Fellowship provides recent college graduates the opportunity to immerse themselves in the public sector at a variety of agencies throughout the city of Cleveland. Out of 110 applicants from 20 states and 62 colleges and universities, only five fellows were selected for this program.

Which programs did you participate in, and when? What skills did you gain or improve through those programs?

The first program I participated in was the summer leadership camp at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in 2011; from then onward I participated in all the 21CL programs until I graduated from high school in 2014. I also served on the Youth Advisory Board during 2011-2013. From these experiences, I gained skills in public speaking, networking, facilitation, and time management.

What was a memorable or ‘aha’ moment in 21CL? (Particular program, meeting a professional and diverse peers, speaking in public for the first time, etc.?)

My “aha” moment in 21st Century Leaders occurred after I graduated from high school. While I was in college, I interned with 21CL and was able to witness firsthand the amount of work and the dedication of the staff into the programming of each summer camp and event. From this experience, I realized that the success of the 21st Century Leaders program was due to the genuine leadership of Bob, Kate and Jasmine and their commitment to encouraging students to step outside their comfort zone and be fearless leaders

Did 21CL assist you in developing a leadership style that makes you an effective leader? if so how? And have you recently learned something else about leadership? Please share!

My experience at 21CL has helped to showcase the determination, confidence, positivity, ingenuity, and collaborative nature that I exemplify as a leader. By embracing the challenges of leadership, I have been able to successfully flourish in my leadership roles.

Alumni Spotlight, Khari Arnold

April’s 21CL Alumni Spotlight is Khari Arnold, a graduate of Westlake High School and Howard University, who currently works at Turner as a Senior Producer of NBA.com. Khari recently reengaged with 21CL by giving back as a volunteer by helping read and review our recent student applications. The same application he went through just a few years ago. Khari shares how enduring connections made with mentors through 21st Century Leaders lead to a career at Turner.

Khari got involved with 21CL in 2010 by attending 21CL’s summer leadership institute, Leadership Unplugged  in 2010 (now known as Turner Voices Youth Leadership Institute) and continued through the program during his senior year landing him an internship that following summer.

How did participating in 21CL change you and/or lead you to where you are now?

The media industry was something I had interest in as early as middle school. When I got to high school, I got involved with the yearbook staff and joined a local teen newspaper. These were great opportunities, but I found 21st Century Leaders to be the most enjoyable and satisfying experience. Here, I received great principles that allowed me to build the foundation of where I am today. The program allowed me to witness a professional setting in my desired field, while garnering vital information that would help me get there (and not just get there, but succeed while there as a leader). I was fortunate to learn what it was like to work on a team and pitch an idea to a panel of executives, something I still do in my current career.

What was your most memorable moment in 21CL?
To be quite honest, my most memorable moment was building a fantastic bond with the other 21CL members. We got so close that one week — I remember everyone saying it felt like we knew each other for a year. Meeting like-minded individuals with similar goals as me was extremely beneficial. We all want to network with people that are already established in their careers, but building relationships with your peers is just as critical. I still keep in contact with a few members of my class and if there’s anything I could do to help a fellow 21CL, I would do it in a heartbeat.
How did 21CL prepare you for your next steps?
It prepared me for my next step by leading to an internship at Turner the very next summer through their Turner Voices Internship Program. During my interview process, I explained the qualities I received as a 21CL and how I learned more about the company and business as a whole through the ‘Turner Voices’ program. Before I knew it, I was serving as a Communications Intern at CNN. That same summer my manager introduced me to a high executive at Turner Sports. I kept in contact with him throughout my four years in college, and now he’s my boss.
What’s something you’ve recently learned about leadership?
I recently learned that a leader must understand the various personalities of who he is guiding, and adapting to it when applicable. Especially the ones you interact with. Also, making an effort to be sure everyone feels like they have a voice — even though you’re the leader — is essential.

Are you an alumni of 21st Century Leaders and want to be featured in the next Alumni Spotlight? Update us on where you are now.