2024 Sandra Neese Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. Jacqueline Brown-Pinkney
Social & Emotional Learning Assistant Coordinator & Lead School Social Worker, Effingham County Schools (GA)
Dr. Jacqueline Brown-Pinkney is a nationally recognized school social worker with over 30 years of experience in the Effingham County School System. As the first school social worker and McKinney-Vento (MV) homeless liaison for the district, she developed the county’s school social work and homelessness support programs from the ground up, establishing guidelines, procedures, and forms still in use today. In 2015, she created the McKinney-Vento Compliance Director Module, a tool now used by school systems across Georgia to ensure staff awareness of MV laws and the ability to identify students who qualify for services; she recently updated the module in November 2024.
Last year, she was promoted to Lead School Social Worker, entrusting the MV liaison role to a new team member whom she trains and supports daily. She also authored and was awarded the Georgia Department of Education’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Grant for Effingham County from FY 2013 to FY 2021, as well as the American Rescue Plan Homeless Children and Youth I and II grants for FY 2022.
Through these grants, she secured funding to hire an MV liaison assistant and provide essential items like school supplies, backpacks, hygiene kits, uniforms, and additional support for MV families, including annual Thanksgiving meals and Christmas assistance. Dr. Brown-Pinkney has mentored MV and foster care students, helping them with college applications, FAFSA completion, and preparation for their next steps.
As a passionate advocate for students and families, Dr. Brown-Pinkney has pioneered impactful initiatives, including the Young Leaders of Tomorrow mentoring program, Sources of Strength suicide prevention club, and Parents As Students Succeeding teen pregnancy program. She founded the Wesley J. Jenkins Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit supporting congenital heart defect research and families impacted by it. The foundation provides annual scholarships to college-bound high school seniors involved in band or orchestra and helps fund travel-related expenses for families expecting children with congenital heart defects.
In her extensive leadership roles, Dr. Brown-Pinkney has served as the past President and Vice President of the School Social Workers Association of Georgia (SSWAG). She currently chairs the School Social Work Keys Effectiveness System (SSWKES) Committee and has trained the RESA Professional Learning Network to support statewide school social worker evaluations. Leading SSWAG’s Crisis Response Team, she established procedural guidelines and coordinated grief support following school shootings in Barrow County.
Dr. Brown-Pinkney is also deeply engaged with her community as Chair of the Economic Development Committee for the Savannah Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., where she has led Thanksgiving gift card drives for families in Bryan, Chatham, and Effingham Counties and fan drives for seniors in need. She coordinates a financial wellness series on topics like budgeting and estate planning and has organized food drives for local pantries.
Appointed by Governors Nathan Deal and Brian Kemp, Dr. Brown-Pinkney has served on the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists. She has held board positions with Family Connection of Effingham, Effingham Family Promise founding member, and advisory roles for McKinney-Vento and Savannah State University’s Social Work program. An adjunct professor at Savannah State, she is dedicated to developing future social work leaders.
Her work has earned her awards, including the 2022 State School Social Worker of the Year and 2023 National School Social Worker of the Year, as well as nominations for volunteer excellence.
With integrity, dedication to professional growth, and a commitment to building others up, Dr. Brown-Pinkney exemplifies leadership and compassion in the field of social work. Her participation in programs such as the Georgia Academy for Economic Development and Leadership Georgia underscores her role as a transformative community advocate and role model for all social workers.