Lesley Deason, President
|
Board of Directors MemberLesley Deason is a widowed low-income mother to her two daughters in the Jefferson County area, where she was born and raised. She has utilized both the WIC and Head Start programs through Jefferson Franklin Community Action Corporation to help her family in times of need. Through being a Head Start parent, in 2016 Ms. Deason was elected to represent her center on the Jefferson and Franklin County Head Start Policy Council, where she was then voted in as Chairperson. She served as Chair for three years, and Vice Chair for two years. In her years of service, Ms. Deason was an active part of both community and statewide Head Start meetings, and also remained active in her daughter’s Head Start classroom. Through being Chairperson of Policy Council, Ms. Deason was also given a seat on the Jefferson Franklin Community Action Corporation’s Board of Directors, where she has served since 2016. In 2018 Ms. Deason was nominated and voted in as Vice President of the Board of Directors, and in 2019 was voted in as President of the Board of Directors, which is the position she currently holds. Ms. Deason has also served as Secretary on the Partners Realizing Opportunity (PRO) Board of Directors since 2019, which is the for-profit arm of Jefferson Franklin Community Action Corporation. Ms. Deason has a background in childcare, preschool teaching, writing, and editing, which she uses to contribute to the community through her positions on different community boards. Through dealing with the tragic loss of her husband to mental illness, and becoming a widowed mother to two young daughters at the age of twenty-five, Ms. Deason has firsthand experience of not only the financial burdens of being low income, but also the burden of mental illness that her husband dealt with, and the PTSD, depression and anxiety that her and her eldest daughter fought through following his death. In recent years she has also faced an onslaught of medical problems for both her and her daughters but continues to remain resilient in the face of tragedy and difficulties. She uses the experiences she has endured to not only advocate for her own children, but also the children and families of our communities through her service.
|