The Juanita Sims Doty Foundation, Inc. (JSD Foundation), designated as a charity organization by the Mississippi Secretary of State in October 2010, is exclusively for charitable and educational purposes. The Foundation has also been designated as a public charity with a 501c3 nonprofit status and is dedicated to improving individual lives through community engagement and outreach.  

Mission, Purpose and Vision

Our mission is to positively impact the lives of children, specifically children of color through mentoring, youth development, health, education and advocacy and the overall wellness of the family. From 2010 to 2021, the mission of the Juanita Sims Doty Foundation was to positively impact the lives of children of color through community engagement and by igniting a “Spirit of Service” with volunteerism throughout the state, nation, and world. We did not veer from the goal and were intentional about centering the mission on the needs of children, specifically children of color.

Today, our mission is to provide youth with the tools needed to navigate a challenging world, while preparing the world to receive them. JSDF promotes coalition building and develops partnerships with organizations whose mission is to create, provide and/or support race equity. Our overall strategy is to implement service and advocacy initiatives in education, children and women’s health, and the overall wellness of the family.

The signature program is the Ambassadors of the Evers Academy for African American Males (A-TEAAM), in partnership with the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Institute and other local/national community-based organizations. The A-TEAAM Initiative is a mentorship program that inspires young males of color in primary and secondary schools to honor the life and live the legacy of Medgar Wiley Evers as they interact with a village of mentors. The "village" of volunteers provides support and guidance while utilizing a culturally responsive curriculum.

After multiple requests from organizations and school districts, we added the Empowering Scholars Through Education, Engagement and Mentorship (E-STEEM) program for girls. In 2018, JSDF answered the long-awaited call to support girls of color and partnered with the Cleveland Empowerment Foundation, Jackson State University and Mississippi State University’s Athletics Departments to begin this mentoring program. ESTEEM takes an intergenerational approach to providing the scholars with social, emotional, intellectual, and community-based mentoring that the girls need and/or desire.

In an effort to formalize both mentoring programs, add an educational component, and to streamline communication, we aligned A-TEAAM and ESTEEM and called it Choose to Grow. These programs are all voluntary for the students, schools, sites, teachers, mentors and parents, and it does not work unless the youth choose to participate. Therefore, a combination of racial socialization, education, scholarship, literacy, mentorship, entrepreneurship, leadership and social skills, community and civic engagement, threaded with fun throughout, the Ambassadors and GEMs, who matriculate through the program are Choosing to Grow.

Additionally, in 2018, we began our efforts to prepare the world to receive youth of color with research and additional advocacy activities, based on disrupting the Dehumanization Cycle and providing individuals and communities with the capacity to utilize a race equity lens when engaging communities of color. As our youth use the tools they receive to navigate this world and encounter organizations and agencies more prepared to support them, they’ll have everything they need to heal, grow and thrive!

Community-based organizations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The JSD Foundation to provide a ‘village’ of mentors in Mississippi and beyond, for middle school males and females participating in our programs.

The organizations are:

International Community Ambassadors Network

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Beta Delta Omega Chapter

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Rho Lambda Omega Chapter

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Upsilon Upsilon Omega Chapter

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Jackson Alumnae Chapter

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Rho Xi Lambda Chapter

Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Jackson Alumni Chapter

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Beta Alpha Chapter

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Epsilon Kappa Kappa Chapter

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Mu Sigma Chapter

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Alpha Delta Zeta Chapter

The Links, Incorporated, Jackson (MS) Chapter

The Links, Incorporated, Le-Fleurs Bluff Chapter

100 Black Men of Jackson

100 Black Men of Canton

Forward Lookers Federated Club

Jack and Jill of America, Inc., Jackson (MS) Chapter

National Council of Negro Women, Jackson Section

The Eliza Pillars Registered Nurses of Mississippi, District IV

A Thirst for Learning

Meridian Freedom Project

Statewide Federal Credit Union

Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. (National Organization)

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Omega Mu Mu Chapter

The Cleveland Empowerment Foundation