Youth homelessness is hidden in plain sight | Elisabeth Jackson | TEDxBoston

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Did you have it all together at 18, or did you still need help figuring life out?

In this talk, Elisabeth Jackson discusses the challenges of youth homelessness and how the system is not built to provide services for transition-aged youth. She shares the work she does at Boston nonprofit Bridge Over Troubled Waters and advocates for a system that thinks of young people as still in transition, still developing, and still in need of age-appropriate services.

Elisabeth Jackson is the President and CEO of Bridge Over Troubled Waters, a nonprofit in Boston that serves homeless, runaway, and at-risk youth. Elisabeth leads the organization in all facets of operations, program delivery, infrastructure, and expansion. Elisabeth has been with Bridge for 25 cumulative years, first joining Bridge as medical coordinator and counselor. She then served as Bridge intake coordinator for four years. In 2008, Elisabeth was recruited to re-join Bridge as part of the Board of Directors. In January 2013, Elisabeth stepped off the board to serve as Interim Executive Director, and was named Executive Director three months later. In 2021, Elisabeth was named Chief Executive Officer, and in 2022 she was named President. During her time at Bridge, Elisabeth has had a massive impact on both the depth and the breadth of programs. Under her leadership, Bridge launched a $50M campaign, opened an independent residence, Liberty House, and fundraised an additional $5M to expand housing for youth and single mothers. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx