Staff Spotlight: Twyla Masterson, Director of Program and Alumni Engagement

Q&A with Twyla

What do you do for Leadership ISD?

I serve as Leadership ISD’s director of program and alumni engagement, activating our network of fellows, alumni, and partners to increase community involvement and mobilize coalitions that advocate for improved student outcomes. I also co-facilitate our Tarrant County Civic Voices Fellowship and design advocacy initiatives focused on racial equity, community voice, and accountable school board governance. My goal is to empower students to grow, thrive, and flourish as they reach their God-given potential.

What do you love about LISD’s alumni?

LISD alumni are everywhere and they are engaged in every sector of the community. Our alumni are actively engaged and driven to see change in education, healthcare, homelessness, poverty rates, and any other adverse effects on marginalized communities.

You were recently promoted to your new role as director of program and alumni engagement. What can alumni expect from the new alumni experience launching this fall?

The goal behind this new alumni work is to provide three things; connection, coalition building, and continuing education.

We want to provide connection to make sure that everybody stays in community, not only with their class but with the alumni family at large. There's a lot of power in the spaces and the places that our alumni commandeer. Coalition building helps convene like-minded people who are aware of what the public education system looks like and equips our alumni to be trusted messengers throughout their professional and personal communities. And, I get most jazzed about continuing education and giving our fellows access to spaces to learn more.

Why are you passionate about educational equity? What motivates you?

I have always worked to empower and uplift kids, but my gateway into equity work was the disproportionate discipline of Black students in Fort Worth ISD. This is a crisis issue across the country. I believe students, regardless of their zip code, parent’s income, race, or physical ability, should have access to an excellent education but that is currently not the case. Although the work is incremental, we persist.

When would you say was the most influential time in your education? What advice would you offer a current student?

Definitely my high school educators who really tapped into my strengths and gifts and made space for me to grow my leadership skills. And, Dr. Dennis Dunkins and his work connecting Black students in Fort Worth ISD to HBCU by way of his HBCU College tours. Those tours opened up a whole new world for me, not only by way of their legacy of academic excellence but also the historical legacy and importance they hold for my community.

My advice to a current student would be to lean into your gifts. I am a natural-born leader and have always talked a lot and now part of my advocacy and work life is to facilitate. So, while you are and should be focused on your academics, also be sure to hone in on your strengths and gifts because one day hopefully you will use them to make a difference.

You are the founder of the Jonathan Andrew Youth Enrichment (JAYE) Foundation, can you tell us more about why you started it?

The JAYE foundation was started as a result of me suffering the miscarriage of my son, Jonathan, 15 years ago. I made a promise to my son; I told him on the delivery bed that I didn't know how I would do it, but I'd make his feet grow into the full measure of a man.

At the time, I didn't know what that meant. I finally chose to strike out in 2014 with the goal of giving children what I would have given my son. So, I started a for-profit business and started doing direct delivery and service to other after-school programs. The JAYE Foundation’s mission is to empower youth to grow, thrive, and flourish as they reach their full potential.

I look at the trajectory that Jonathan started me on, and it helped lead me to my LISD journey because when I started seeing the disparities for children, I knew that we needed to change things. It became an urgency and the mama in me was like, “No, we can't do this.”

I don't look at any child the same way. It's a precious thing. That's my baby. He impacted my life, and I just want to impact other families and kids because he was so powerfully impactful to me.

You can learn more and follow the JAYE Foundation on Facebook: @TheJAYEFoundation.

Twyla (center) with members of our Leadership ISD alumni network.