Waco-based EOAC gets new director as it prepares for move

Jesse, 42, has become the new executive director of the Economic Opportunities Advancement Corp. EOAC keeps a relatively low profile, which Jesse would like to raise. A compassionate but dignified approach is needed to fight poverty and improve school performance.

Jesse takes on the day-to-day duties as EOAC leaves downtown Waco for new offices on North Valley Mills Drive in the former Underwood's coffee shop space that is being renovated. EOAC locally has about 200 employees, including part-timers, and has an annual budget of $13 million, Jesse said.

“We have programs that help people in poverty get out of poverty,” he said during a telephone interview between meetings. “In particular, we offer Head Start and Pre-Head Start, ensuring that the youngest and most vulnerable children start off on the right foot. We partner with Waco ISD and the community, and have multiple locations around town.

“We have community-based preschools, most recently transitioning to offer Pre-Head Start for infants up to age 3. There is a growing need for this level of child care.”

She said her own mother looked after the children at home and did the laundry while her father worked odd jobs.

Jesse said his life's trajectory changed by attending Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene and then working with nonprofits and the First Baptist Church of Abilene to improve the lives of struggling youth to challenges

“I dedicated my career to paying that forward, to giving more people the possibility of a vocation that pays them a living wage,” Jesse said.

Becoming EOAC's executive director is perfect timing as staff and programs move in phases to the new location, he said.

“Our programs are spread across different spaces. This is an opportunity for us to come together, break down silos, work together as a team,” Jesse said. “When the board introduced me, I said I had three goals, one is to move into the new space; two, to have more of a presence in the community. We've been around since the 1960s, but we've fallen out of people's consciousness Third, I want us to have a better name in the community.

Jesse said he will bide his time, watching and analyzing, then work with the EOAC board on strategic planning and choosing a direction.

An obvious strength is the exceptionally dedicated employees, “many of whom see this as a calling,” he said. He's impressed by how much they know about regulatory compliance, saying, “We've got this,” and the team is a great steward of the money entrusted to EOAC.

“In terms of marketing and public relations … there are more opportunities to work with the community,” he said. “We need to explore innovative models, programs that generate earned income as well as government funding. Partnerships with other nonprofits would help in different ways.”

EOAC also offers rental assistance and sponsors an HVAC program to make homes more energy efficient. It works with other agencies such as the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, Child Protective Services and the Waco Housing Authority.

The EOAC board that hired Jesse is led by McLennan County Commissioner Ben Perry, who did not return messages seeking comment.

While attending Hardin-Simmons, Jesse worked as a preschool teacher at the First Baptist Church of Abilene, one of several part-time jobs he held to make ends meet. She also tutored, waited tables and worked as a teacher's assistant at Hardin-Simmons.

At Cleburne, he took charge of a program that gave youth and adults access to higher education. It grew in 10 years, from 16 kids meeting after school to 3,000 adults and 600 youth, Jesse said. He recently spent two years in Dallas, “primarily fundraising,” before turning to EOAC work.

“I haven't worked with EOAC, but I saw this position and thought it was very interesting,” Jesse said. “Most of the funding comes from federal sources, and I know a lot about that. Their mission to get people out of poverty speaks to a lot of the work I've done.”

He said he understands about 60 people applied for the job left vacant by the retirement of principal Dorothy Marstaller.

EOAC is a non-profit organization chartered by the State of Texas on April 25, 1966 to carry out the federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. It was assigned to support the economic and social potential of residents and eliminate poverty in McLennan, Bosque, Freestone, Limestone, Hill, Falls, Johnson, Ellis and Navarro Counties, according to the EOAC website.