Emerging Leaders Class of 2024

One of eight siblings, Jessica Young was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. She attended and graduated from Buffalo Public Schools. She attended SUNY Buffalo State and ECC where she obtained an A.A.S  in Communications Media Arts, before going on to attend Northland Workforce Training Center and obtaining certification in Mechatronics to join the booming manufacturing industry. At that time, she was selected to be one of the faces of NWTC and advertised on Billboards all across WNY.  While working as a Mechanical Service Rep, she gained the experience of doing service work with her companies of employment. A few of those experiences included having the opportunity to speak with Mayor Byron Brown’s Summer Youth program participants,  participating in MLK Service Day, United Way Day of Caring, NGProjectC Serving the Niagara Community, Veterans Day with VERG, Earth Day Clean Up Crew, and Open Buffalos’ Color Run. As she has become active in helping people, she realized that it is truly her passion as well as nourishing to her soul. She shortly thereafter applied and was accepted into the OB Emerging Leaders 2024 cohort, which has been the catalyst that led her to enroll at UB where she is now working towards her BA in Health and Human Services/Community Mental Health.  Her hope is to revitalize the communities of Buffalo by first reimagining, restructuring, and rebuilding the idea of family and re-introducing Love into the equation of the fabric of life.