Meet Grace Jackson | Model, Bake it Forward Founder and Political Activist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Grace Jackson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m most proud of the initiative I started with my family called Bake it Forward. We used to live a shelter for domestic violence victims, seven years later we wanted to give back, so I started finding ways to help out. One thing that had always been absent in the shelter was baked goods, Bake it Forward is dedicated to providing homemade baked goods to domestic violence victims. I’m so happy that we’re now expanding to homeless shelters and addiction rehabilitation centers as well. It was not easy by any means. It took a lot of communication and negotiating between myself, community bakeries and receiving shelters to accommodate everyone’s schedule and make the most impact. if there’s one thing I want all of my work to be remembered for, its that it empowered people to speak up and fostered a community that allowed them to do so.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’d definitely recommend going to the beach in the morning. The sunrises are beautiful in the morning and it’s not overcrowded. Specifically Cocoa Beach is beautiful and has a great surrounding community. After a day at the beach shopping and dinner at a seafood restaurant would make the perfect day for me and my friends. The next day, I’d spend the afternoon with a large group of friends and get lunch at The Polite Pig. As evening falls, I’d take us to House of Blues for some live music, followed by a sweet treat at Ghirardelli Soda Fountain, and listening to Lauryn Hill on the car ride home. The last day would just be a variation of my everyday. We’d wake up and go to a pilates class then grab bowls from Bolay. After we’d drive to the beach while blasting Lauryn Hill and get tan before going out to dinner at a Disney Restaurant.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d have to dedicate my shoutout to my Mom, Safehouse Seminole and my former debate captain Zak Zeini. Safehouse provided us with a refuge during a difficult time in our lives. Im forever grateful to the women from that shelter who gave us a forever family, in a temporary home. None of that would have been possible if my mom didn’t have the courage to leave. She picked up tow extra jobs just so I was able to debate because as a domestic violence survivor, she understood it was imperative I learned to speak up. Zak Zeini is the person who taught me to speak up. He was my freshman year debate captain. He took my passion and energy and refined it so that I was able to go further in debate than anyone form my school had before. I keep in touch with him to this day. Four years after being my captain, I’m now the captain of my high school debate team. Because he inspired me to stay ambitious the team has quadrupled in size since I joined.

Instagram: gracej9468

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace—jackson-/

Image Credits
Marliesse Carmona