has been named Chief Development Officer of Newport Beach-based Project Self-Sufficiency, a nonprofit whose mission is to help low-income single parents graduate from college or vocational training with the skills necessary to achieve economic independence.
As an experienced senior policy analyst and advocate in the student parent space, a successful graduate of Project Self-Sufficiency’s (PSS) scholar program, and the former President of the organization’s Board of Directors, Wilkerson is uniquely positioned to lead PSS’s fundraising initiatives, donor and partner relationships and community outreach.
Wilkerson also founded Won’t She Do It, a firm that provides coaching and development training directly to student-parents.
She holds her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Sacramento State University and currently is pursuing her Master’s in education counseling from San Diego State University.
Project Self-Sufficiency began in 1985 in Huntington Beach when the city participated in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s national Project Self-Sufficiency Program.
In March of 2018, the group expanded its services throughout Orange County. They are currently located on the second floor of the Melinda Hoag Smith Center for Healthy Living in Newport Beach.
Project Self-Sufficiency envisions a community of empowered, educated parents who have broken the generational cycle of poverty and lift up others.
Graduates of the program lead strong, healthy families and raise strong, healthy children. These parents become leaders and contributors in the community; they take pride in their accomplishments, and that pride is reflected in the eyes of their children. PSS scholars are confident in their role as parents and as capable providers.
For more information, visit https://www.pssoc.org.
