Dr. Donna Haskins Jackson or “Lady J” is a native of Richmond, Virginia, who was raised on the city’s Southside. At age 7, she became a member of her family church, Tabernacle Baptist Church, Chesterfield, VA (Winterpock). There she was active in Sunday School and the Music Ministry. Educated in the Richmond Public School (RPS) system, she graduated from Jefferson-Huguenot-Wythe High School (George Wythe Building) in 1984. Since that time, she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Virginia Tech (1988) and a Master’s Degree in Education with a concentration in Higher Education Administration and Supervision from Virginia Commonwealth University (2001). In May 2015, she completed Virginia Commonwealth University’s Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership Program.
Lady J has spent the last 20 years as an administrator at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, currently serving as Assistant Dean for Admissions and Director of Student Outreach Program. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Group on Student Affairs appointed Donna Jackson, Ed.D., assistant dean for admissions, director of student outreach and inaugural co-chair of the Inclusion Council at VCU School of Medicine, to a three-year term as chair of the National Committee on Student Diversity Affairs (COSDA). One of five national committees within the AAMC Group on Student Affairs, COSDA provides guidance on diversity in student recruitment, admissions, enrollment, retention and graduation at medical schools across the U.S.
She is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She realizes that God has allowed all that she has been able to accomplish – professionally, educationally and personally. It is summed up in her favorite scripture, Philippians 4:12-13, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
As a wife and mother, she has been an ardent supporter of the endeavors of her family and continues to do so as the family works together with the congregation of Reliance Church RVA in the mission of “preaching the Good News to all generations and remaking them into liberated, empowered, modern-day followers of Jesus Christ that rely on God.”
