Spartanburg Academic Movement hires Jennifer Parker to Lead Expanding Initiatives

The Spartanburg Academic Movement (SAM) has hired Dr. Jennifer Parker to lead the non-profit’s emphasis on child and family health and well-being in its systemic approach to increase economic mobility and educational success for Spartanburg County residents.  She begins her new role December 1, 2020.

“SAM is expanding its capacity to provide both county-wide and neighborhood-based support to improve the health and well-being of children and families. Ultimately this work will increase academic success and improve economic mobility. But none of that will happen without a focus on the coordination of resources to strengthen families and students. Dr. Parker’s expertise, knowledge of our community and passion are equal to none. She is an important addition to the SAM team and our ongoing work,” said Executive Director Russell Booker.

Parker served as a psychology professor at USC Upstate and is the Founding Director of the University’s Child Protection Training Center. The Center, created to reduce Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and improve community response to child maltreatment began as one of only four in the nation[KA1] .  Under Parker’s leadership, thousands of professionals serving children and families were trained in multiple strategies to build resilience for those facing the most traumatic life situations. She led the creation of a mock courtroom, mock jury deliberation room, and mock house, all realistic training environments to help professionals better understand the systems and processes impacting the community’s most vulnerable children and families.

Training in the Center’s Compassionate Schools program was a key professional development component of SAM’s “Four Schools Project,” an effort to support teaching and learning in the County’s four highest poverty schools.  The Center’s “Fundamentals for Youth-Serving Providers” has become a membership component of SAM’s Out-of-School-Time Collaborative, working to close persistent opportunity gaps by improving, expanding, and sustaining high-quality afterschool and summer programs for middle and high school age youth. 

“This is a tremendous opportunity to merge my life’s work with SAM’s systems-level approach for building stronger families,” Parker said.

Parker earned her PhD in Family and Child Development from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and graduated from the Harvard University Management and Leadership in Education program. She is a graduate of the Diversity Leaders Initiative at the Riley Institute, Spartanburg Regional Fellows, and a South Carolina ACE Interface Master Trainer. 

Parker has led numerous professional and volunteer efforts focused on child, adolescent, and family health.  She is currently active with the Spartanburg Adolescent Health Community Advisory Board, Mental Fitness Advisory Council, Behavioral Health Taskforce, and the Faith Initiative to End Child Poverty, all engaging community leaders in collective impact work to improve circumstances and resources for Spartanburg residents. She recently accepted an invitation to serve on the Spartanburg County Foundation’s Community Leadership Committee.

Dedicated to ongoing professional development, and deepening her professional alignment with SAM’s equity initiatives, Parker completed “Faith and Racial Equity” training and is pursuing a “Systemic Racism in Child Welfare” certificate through the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC).