Lisa Jackson

Biography

Lisa is the Managing Partner for the Imago Dei Fund based in Boston, MA. Lisa has worked in the social sector for over two decades in a variety of roles. She began her career in education and psychology as a professor at Boston College. Her research there was focused on agency and self-efficacy in youth at the intersection of racial and gender identity. Realizing how much she enjoyed working with youth and being more directly engaged with schools, Lisa decided to leave academia to manage a federally funded college access and success program for the Boston Public Schools (GEAR-UP). As her eclectic trajectory evolved, Lisa stepped into organization leadership positions focused on evaluation and assessment, risk management, research and strategy development.
Prior to joining the Imago Dei Fund (IDF) in 2018 as its Managing Partner, Lisa served as the Vice President for Research at The Center for Effective Philanthropy, and the Managing Partner for Portfolio Investments at New Profit, Inc. Both of these experiences shaped her perspective on philanthropy providing a solid foundation for her to step into her role at IDF.
Lisa serves on several boards including College Advising Corps, SPARK Microgrants, My Life My Choice, Boston Schools Fund, Compass Working Capital, and New England International Donors (NEID). She is also a former elected member of the Brookline School Committee. Lisa has a Ph.D. in Education from Stanford University, and a B.S. in Psychology from Howard University.