Our President & CEO

Laurence Jackson, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist, public speaker, author, and organizational development consultant based in Washington, DC.  Dr. Jackson’s areas of expertise include team building, stress management, and spirituality and mental health; and the development and implementation of highly effective programs serving children and youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

Since 2008, Dr. Jackson has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Progressive Life Center, Inc. (PLC) – one of the mid-Atlantic’s largest and most respected nonprofit agencies serving vulnerable children and families. PLC is recognized for its pioneering work in developing culturally responsive approaches to mental health and child and family development. As CEO, Dr. Jackson provides strategic leadership for the agency’s 100+ employees based in Washington DC, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.

Dr. Jackson previously served as PLC’s Chief Operating Officer and oversaw significant growth in the organization’s geographic breadth and programs. Dr. Jackson has also served as an Organizational Development Specialist for the Stupski Foundation, based in San Francisco, where he provided strategic planning, team building, and executive coaching to senior cabinet members in the superintendents’ offices at urban school districts nationwide.

Dr. Jackson received his undergraduate training at the University of California at Irvine, where he majored in Social Ecology. He holds a post-baccalaureate degree in Mental Health Counseling from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Maryland at College Park.