Chapter History
Our Chartering President, Jasmine Taylor, had always been aware of the impact that Jack & Jill was making for our children in Black communities nationwide. It was something she wanted for her children but never more than the day her daughter came home from school crying that she wanted flat hair, like Snow White. Jasmine explained that she had beautiful curls like Princess Tiana but I knew then, just how important having a community around us that celebrates who you are and reflects who you are was imperative. That’s why when her family moved to Marina Del Rey, she began looking for ways to connect with other like minded Mothers.
Jasmine had met Moms in several surrounding Jack & Jill chapters but felt like there may be a void in her West LA community. She shared her thoughts with a dear friend, Charla Harris, who said she would support Jasmine in chartering a chapter if that were the case. This community was something they wanted so badly for our children so Jasmine wrote an email to the National office of Jack & Jill of America, inquiring about chartering a chapter for the Beach Cities of West Los Angeles. It was quiet for some time before we received a response, but a year later, then Regional Director Tasha Penny reached out and things picked up pretty quickly.
The ladies didn’t have much time to reestablish the original interest group, but they were up to the task. Charla Harris and Jasmine Taylor identified a few Mighty Moms who were key in the early outreach including Mimi Nartey and Sheri Streams. Jasmine organized their first interest group meeting at the Marina Del Rey Farmers Market, with a goal of recruiting 25 Moms, and reached that goal within a week. By week two the group had doubled in size and within three weeks 61 Mighty Moms had assembled to take on the challenge of chartering the West LA Chapter of Jack & Jill. The Interest Group then met at the home of Sheri Streams at a Momosas Brunch she co-hosted with Mimi Nartey where we were introduced to Regional Director Tasha Penny, and our sponsoring chapter President, Khalisha Jefferson.
The West LA Interest Group submitted our 600+ page application on August 1, 2023. They were granted Provisional Group status on November 8, 2023 and diligently set about work that they felt from the beginning was historic. They knew we were building a community not only for our children but for generations to come. They ended our provisional year with 44 wonderful families at our 1st Annual Black Family Day Celebration on May 4, 2024 and hosted their first Annual Retreat on June, 23, 2024 and their first Jack & Jill Day & Carole Robertson Day Tribute on August 25, 2024, during which the children of the chapter presented a check for $5,000 to the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce to establish a memorial scholarship in the name of Carole Robertson.
Finally, it was time to present all of the great work of the West Los Angeles Provisional Group for a vote. Five chapter representatives, Jasmine Taylor, Chapter President, Mimi Nartey, Chapter Vice President, Charla Harris, Chapter Program Director, Sheri Streams, Chapter Parliamentarian, and Kenya Lee, Grade Group 1 Co-Chair, presented programming highlights and introduced the forty-four mothers of the West Los Angeles Chapter to Jack and Jill of America at our 46th National Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota. West Los Angeles joined an outstanding class of 10 distinguished chartering chapters, growing the organization to 262 chapters nationwide. The West Los Angeles Chapter of Jack & Jill was chartered at the Skirball Cultural Center on September 29, 2024 before a host of family and friends in a ceremony presided over by National President Darlene Whittington, National Program Director, Tasha Penny and Regional Director, JoAnne Curry. They joined more than 50,000 family members making a difference in communities nationwide.