![Photo of Miss Jessie.](https://ctb.ku.edu/sites/default/files/styles/toolkit_example/public/toolkit6cexample7-missjessie.jpg?itok=ndg6-TyK)
Jessie Jefferson, 79, is developing a new generation of neighborhood leaders as a consultant and community organizer for a host of neighborhoods: Town Fork Creek, Oak Park, Vineyard, South Roundtop, Seven Oaks, Blue Valley, McCoy, Washington Wheatley, and Independence Plaza.
And she fights for them, arguing for commitments from city department heads and council members to carve out financial support for these neighborhood associations so they can do the work of preserving and growing community power.