jwallace@nul.org

Jeffery T.D. Wallace, a native of Richmond, CA, is a Next Gen social entrepreneur intent on bridging the opportunity gap. Exposure to diverse cultures and communities in need have informed Wallace’s innovative ideation and his desire to find sustainable solutions to social problems.  As president and CEO of LeadersUp, Wallace fulfills the dual roles of visionary and architect, uniting people around shared goals to achieve disruptive and transformative change.

LeadersUp was founded to bridge the divide between the untapped potential of young people and the business challenge of finding and keeping the best talent.  To that end, LeadersUp has established human-centered best practices to combat youth unemployment in Chicago, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Through skills training and hiring events, LeadersUp has placed more than 5,000 young adults in jobs with advancement potential, delivering a 60% retention rate and generating over $72 million n economic benefits.

In 2018, Fast Company named Wallace among the Most Creative People in Business. He is the recipient of the Los Angeles Urban League’s 2019 Dr. Winston C. Doby Community Coalition Award