NJSACC's Director of Expanded Learning Opportunities Tyneisha K. Gibbs Shares Her Afterschool Story!
Did you attend an afterschool program in your youth? Tell us what you did after school usually.
- I didn’t attend formal afterschool programs but I was involved in extracurricular activities like my girl scout meetings on Elizabeth Ave. in Newark, summer camps at my church, the municipal lunch and learn at the local parks in Irvington and my Neptune middle school acapella group – The Nightingales.
How were you introduced to NJSACC?
- I was introduced to NJSACC by attending trainings as a practitioner with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County in 2006. While I worked at Programs for Parents, we partnered with NJSACC on an Essex County Summer Camp Conference. This got me on the radar of NJSACC’s founder, Diane Genco. I was scouted and hired by Diane to join the organization.
When did you start working at NJSACC?
- 11/9/2018
Your title when you started?
- Director of Expanded Learning Opportunities
Your title now?
- Director of Expanded Learning Opportunities
- (also served as Interim Chief Operating Officer)
In your view, why is afterschool important?
- Afterschool is important because our field allows students to grow deeper in their knowledge in ways that can sometimes be time constrained in the classroom. We have an opportunity to expose youth to the practitioners of what they are learning and give them hands on experience in subject areas. If a child loves technology, in afterschool, that child is learning coding and building their own video games from an engineering student at NJIT. If a child excels in English Language Arts, in afterschool, that child is virtually meeting their favorite author and penning a poetry anthology with their peers. Afterschool is an essential part of the education ecosystem and has helped to mold the minds of our brightest leaders.
In your view, why is NJSACC important?
- NJSACC is important because we advocate for all students to have equitable access to quality afterschool opportunities. In urban and rural areas of NJ, those options can be few and far in between. By expanding access to those opportunities, NJSACC helps to expand positive life outcomes and healthy futures for all of New Jersey’s youth.
BIO:
Tyneisha K. Gibbs is NJSACC’s Director of Expanded Learning Opportunities. In this role, she provides training and technical assistance for NJDOE’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers.
She earned her BA in Psychology with a double minor in Social Work and Multicultural Studies from Rider University, a Certificate in Non Profit Management from The College of New Jersey and a certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility from Rutgers Business School – Institute of Ethical Leadership. Tyneisha is also a graduate of the Rutgers Business School- Institute of Ethical Leadership’s Victoria Emerging Leaders Program. She believes learning is a lifelong process and is dedicated to expanding learning opportunities for others.
With over ten years of Youth Development, Management and Supervision experience, she believes, “Unorthodox methods of Education can break generational cycles of mental enslavement.” Her life’s passion is dedicated to uplifting our communities through education and access to resources.
In 2019, The Riley Institute selected Tyneisha to participate in the White-Riley-Peterson (WRP) Policy Fellowship. A partnership with the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the WRP Fellowship is a 10-month, national program designed to equip graduates with a real-world understanding of policy-making for afterschool and expanded learning.
She was born in Newark, NJ and raised in the Jersey shore town of Neptune, NJ. She began her career as a teacher during the day and a Director at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County. In addition to being passionate about her career, she is a phenomenal wife and an amazing mother to her daughter.