Lakisha Young

Lakisha Young is Founder & CEO of The Oakland REACH. Her formula has guided REACH’s work since day one: Ask families questions. Listen to their aspirations. Build the solutions. Liberate our communities.This formula has produced groundbreaking solutions over the last 6 years, including The Opportunity Ticket, which gives vulnerable students higher preference for enrolling in quality schools, and the Virtual Family Hub, a one-stop shop supporting families’ economic survival and their children’s educational success during the pandemic. Lakisha then built The Liberator Model, which trains parents and caregivers in the community to become tutors in some of the lowest-performing Oakland schools.REACH’s solutions have been featured in local, national, and international media, including Today.com, TIME Magazine, CNN, KQED, BBC News, The San Francisco Chronicle, The 74, and more. In 2023, Lakisha was recognized by KRON4 as the Bay Area’s Remarkable Woman.Lakisha is a respected local and national voice on parent power, and provides consultation to other cities interested in REACH’s transformative model.