Alumna Featured on Lifetime TV
May 8, 2008
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.6190
Janice Jackson, B.A. '02, M.S. '05, will be profiled on the Lifetime channel beginning Wednesday, May 21 at 10:15 p.m. in a special four-minute profile. (Other appearances will announced n the coming days.) Jackson's appearance is tied to her selection last February as one of four women across the country to represent "The CoverGirl Queen Collection." The beauty product company issued a national appeal for women who had overcome "major challenges"; she was among 4,800 women to apply. Jackson will also be featured in a CoverGirl advertisement in the June issue of Ebony magazine.
With her master's degree in Human Services Administration, Jackson now teaches psychology at UB as an adjunct professor. She is a well-known and popular figure on campus, active in the UB community and a proud alumna of the institution.
A native of Lanham, Md., and a resident of Baltimore, Jackson is the founder and executive director of the city-based nonprofit Women Embracing Abilities Now. She started the mentoring/partnering program, which assists women recovering from new disabilities, after receiving a paralyzing injury nearly 25 years ago. WEAN helps these women live successfully with their disability, by providing support, encouragement and practical skills in the transitional period follow rehabilitation.
The organization will "empower and enable women with new disabilities to become productive by creating one-on-one mentoring relationships, and by inviting them into a positive and dynamic sisterhood," according to its Web site.
Jackson said the Lifetime filming experience was eye-opening for her, because the network focused on her as a person first.
"It was a great experience, and it's interesting because they profiled us—it was about our lives, the challenges we faced and how we overcame them to go on to be successful at what we do," she said. "They asked questions like, 'Who inspires you?' and 'What makes you feel beautiful?'—really focusing on who we are as women."
That stance is near the heart of WEAN's work, she added.
"There are women all over the country who need support and need that foundation and need people behind them, pushing them," Jackson said. "The system's not telling you that. I have women in my group who have never put on lipstick since they were disabled, never got their nails done. Because that's not promoted. We're like, 'Noooooo, you are still a woman first.'"
Jackson's story was profiled in the Gazette on May 8.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the School of Law, the Yale Gordon College of Liberal Arts and the Merrick School of Business.