Jada Joshua: Intense Leadership at Every Stage

Kennedy rome

Intensity, economics, agriculture, and leadership: these are the words that best describe many facets of Jada Joshua. From living in the rural area of Houston to coming into the illustrious space of Spelman, Jada has dedicated herself to taking charge of both the organizations in which she participates and her own life.  Whether it’s being the Treasurer of Sister Chef, participating in agricultural impact research at Berkeley, or even figuring out what she’s going to do after class, Jada has approached everything with a determination that many have not been able to obtain. This is why we are honored to have her as one of our 25 for 25 Spotlight Award recipients.

For Jada, her story began with a passion for agriculture that has been by her side since childhood: 

 “ I would say that I didn’t get into agriculture, agriculture got into me. I’ve always been very hands-on when it comes to the environment”.

In Texas, Jada demonstrated her passion for the environment. She participated in organizations such as Girl Scouts, 4H, and is even an apprentice beekeeper.

“I did a bunch of beekeeping lessons. I had 2 of my own hives in middle school that I was very connected to. I grew up, you know, running around, running literally at recess with the cows, like, you know everything, from tumbleweeds to goats, chickens, all of that was my reality, and again, as a child, I just assumed that that was everybody’s reality.” 

Her experiences with agriculture helped shape her experience and career goals that would eventually lead her to Spelman. Her tenacity shines, even when she talks about why she chose to attend the college in the first place: 

“One, I always say number one is because it was the number one HBCU, and I’ve always been somebody dedicated to not settling. I really wanted to go to the best of the best, and I knew I would be most comfortable at an HBCU,” Joshua said.  

While being at the number one HBCU, Jada has been able to make the experience her own and achieve great heights through the number of organizations that she’s participated in, such as: Sister Chef, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., the Food Studies program, and the 83rd Administration [SGA]. While being in these multiple organizations, she opens up about the challenges that she’s had to face so far and the approaches that she’s had to take in order to remain successful:  

 “I think my biggest challenge is balancing what I can realistically get done in 24 hours versus what I wish I could get done in 24 hours. My father likes to describe me as intense. I’m a very hands-on kind of leader, so sometimes I have a hard time delegating. Not because I can’t see how to divide up the task, but just because it’s hard to know that the task is getting done the way it needs to get done if I’m not there. But I also can’t be everywhere at once … And, so, I would not choose to lead an organization that I didn’t trust.” Following her gut and leading with trust have been proven to be beneficial- this award nomination is evidence of such, Joshua said.

 It’s also hard to ignore that she’s been able to have opportunities and gain experience beyond the gates through prestigious internships. Even as early as the summer after her freshman year, she traveled to the Bay Area  to attend the Schmidt Family Foundation, an investment banking company, where she worked with the food and agricultural portfolio. In this setting, she learned the difference between what a good investment and a bad investment may look like and how one would maintain these same investments. While Jada would describe the opportunity as intense, it gave her a lot of insight and piqued her interest in returning to California. 

This interest would roll into the summer between her sophomore and junior year as she revisited California with the Scholars for Environmental Change program at the University of California, Berkeley. In this program, she was able to work with Timothy Bowles’ agroecology lab in which she was tasked with understanding how different farming practices could increase the bee population in California, and how this increase in the bee population affects the economy of the state.

Throughout the interview, she never shied away from using the word intense, whether it was to describe herself or her experiences: 

“I would describe myself first as intense because I am…  I assumed that people were very similar to me. I assumed that everybody’s brain was very loud. I assumed that everybody had a lot of questions…That’s why I like to describe myself as intense because my questions are never empty. My comments are never empty. They’re very much like where I am at the moment… And then, secondly, I would describe my experiences as intense. Because it was a big deal for me to go that far from home at such a young, not a young age, but just like very young in my career…” Joshua said. 

With this intensity, she continues to excel as she looks forward to her future, especially beyond the Spelman gates. She’s looking into a variety of STEM schools and pre-doctorate programs. No matter what path she chooses, it is not surprising that Jada will enter any path with greatness: 

“You can always expect greatness. Not because I’m necessarily reaching for it, but because sometimes it just kind of comes naturally, like, if you mark yourself as great. Everything you do is great,” Joshua said.