Southwest Tennessee Community College Chief Strategy Officer/Chief of Staff Jacqueline Taylor named 2023 Sterling Awards winner
For more information, contact: Diana Fedinec, Director of Public Relations and Media at (901) 333-4247 or dfedinec@southwest.tn.edu
Dr. Jacqueline Taylor
Dr. Jacqueline Taylor, Chief Strategy Officer/Chief of Staff at Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis, Tenn., has been named among the Top 20 most influential women in West Tennessee. Taylor received her recognition as a 2023 Sterling Awards winner from the Jackson Area Business and Professional Women professional society. Winners were selected for being exemplary women whose contributions have positively impacted the communities they serve in the West Tennessee region.
Taylor is honored as an advocate and champion of student success. At the heart of her transformative work in higher education is a commitment to provide equitable access and success for diverse students to attain a life-changing credential that can lead to greater economic opportunity. She has more than 30 years of experience in executive, equity and justice leadership; strategic planning, faculty teaching, workforce development; and retention and student success. In her current role at Southwest, she oversees the college’s institutional advancement; research and data analytics; and marketing and communications functions. She also serves as a teaching and learning equity coach for Achieving the Dream, a national network of more than 300 institutions of higher education working to break down barriers to success for more than four million community college students.
“I am deeply honored by this award and proud to be a part of a sisterhood who is changing lives throughout West Tennessee,” said Taylor. “I’m grateful to my community partners, colleagues, and peers who recognize the value of an education in building brighter futures for the citizens with whom we work and serve.”
In addition to her work at Southwest, Taylor is actively involved in several community organizations. She is an executive board chair of the Montgomery Cultural & Enrichment Center and Montgomery Alumni Association, Inc. in Lexington, Tenn.; board member and finance chair at Lifeline Blood Services in Jackson, Tenn.; and board member and strategic planning facilitator at Boys & Girls Club in Jackson, Tenn.
Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree in English, a master’s in education and a doctorate in educational leadership with an emphasis in higher education administration from Union University in Jackson, Tenn.
Taylor will receive her Sterling award March 16, 2023 at the Carl Perkins Civic Center in Jackson, Tenn. during a televised ceremony that will be live-streamed at 6:00 p.m. (CST) on EPlusTV6.