Jodina Hicks is the President of Volunteers of America of Pennsylvania (VOAPA). VOAPA is a $12million organization, focused on health equity and housing across Pennsylvania. VOAPA’s mission is to equip and empower individuals and communities experiencing greatest inequity.
Prior, Jodina led UrbanPromise Ministries in Camden, NJ, an organization she helped to start earlier in her career. Jodina led national demonstration projects focused on prison reform and prevention while at Public/Private Ventures, where she helped launch Amachi and the Ready4Work (President’s Reentry Initiative). Both initiatives were highlighted in State of the Union addresses and led to new federal funding streams.
She was a senior executive of the Safer Foundation (IL), a prisoner reentry/employment organization. Her work at Safer reached 10,000 people each year, and her policy work at Safer included the writing and passage of state and local legislation aimed at reducing barriers for formerly incarcerated individuals, federal testimony and state reentry policies and procedures.
Jodina earned her Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School. Jodina was given the New Jersey Hero Award from the Governor (2014), the MLK legacy award from Rutgers Law School (2018), was named a top 100 Pennsylvania Non-Profit Leaders (2022), and awarded the Mary Philbrook Award (2023).