Roderick R. Jackson
Education opened an unexpected path from business studies to finance, policy, and law.
In 2018, while incarcerated at the O.L. Luther Unit through Lee College, Roderick began studying business management. He did not expect the subject to mean much to him. Instead, he discovered an unexpected passion for finance.
After his release in 2021, Roderick was determined to finish what he had started. In 2024, he graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and General Business.
Despite his degrees, Roderick struggled to break into the finance industry because of his criminal history. A connection from his time at Lee College introduced him to the Ed Trust Justice Fellows Policy Program. The experience connected him with people working to address the barriers formerly incarcerated individuals face after serving their sentences and set him on a new path toward law.
Roderick is now a rising second-year student at Southern University Law Center and works as a Law Clerk at the Orleans Public Defenders Office in New Orleans.
Educational opportunity matters, but students also need connections that help learning, credits, and professional goals continue after release.