Jackie Thu-Huong Wong
Senior Advisor, Ball/Frost Group
Jackie Thu-Huong Wong, M.S.W., is Vice President of Policy and Advocacy for GRACE, an anti-poverty organization that manages the End Child Poverty in CA Campaign (ECPCA) aimed at ending deep child poverty and reducing child poverty in California. Under her leadership, in coalition with anti-poverty advocates, ECPCA has secured over $4 billion in new funding to address child poverty, with a significant investment in education programs.
Jackie’s Background
Jackie possesses deep experience in state policy and advocacy. As the former Statewide Director for the Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program at the California Department of Education (CDE), she worked across departments, state agencies, school districts, county offices of education and with education equity stakeholders to ensure that the promise of the Local Control Funding Formula is fulfilled for students in foster care.
Because of her work in foster care education advocacy, Jackie was appointed by California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye to the Keeping Kids in School (KKIS) Steering Committee, which works to involve the courts in education efforts across the state. KKIS is focused on keeping kids in school and out of the justice system.
Prior to her role at CDE, Jackie was a Children’s Advocate for the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) and served as Senior Policy Advisor to Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg in the areas Human Services, Veterans’ Affairs, Long Term Aging and related issues, and worked with stakeholders on the Local Control Funding Formula provisions related to students in foster care.
Jackie was an Administrator for the Oakland Unified School District’s Student, Family and Community Services Department helping to develop the district’s Foster Youth Program, Refugee Student Assistance Program, Homeless Student Program, Migrant Education Program, various Coordination of Services Programs and Crisis Response protocols.
Literally, born en route to freedom during the fall of Saigon, Ms. Wong was raised in Stockton, California where her functional fluency in both Spanish and Vietnamese allowed her to work across a diverse range of immigrant communities, with gang involved youth, and other highly at-risk populations. Through her work and background, Jackie understands the positive impact of a strong comprehensive education system on the futures of students and families.
Jackie is a mother of two children attending a Washington Unified School District elementary school and is President of the Board of Education.
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