Danielle Officer
Interviewee: Danielle Officer
Interviewer: Steven Payne
Summary by Ellie Harkins
June 1, 2022
Abstract
As an involved mother, daughter, former President of the Bronx chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. (JJAI), and now a professional in the nonprofit sector, Danielle Officer knows the importance of the Black community in the Bronx inside and out. Growing up in the Bronx, Danielle lived with a multitude of family members over the years. Her grandparents and great-grandparents helped foster her love for their Bronx community and Jamaican heritage.
LINK TO VIDEO INTERVIEW: http://cdm17265.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/baahp/id/93
Danielle was an avid participant in sports as a child and participated in various clubs and activities throughout her high school career at Riverdale Country School. At Riverdale, Danielle experienced being an outsider as one of the only Black students, which emphasized the importance of her bonds with other Black students. Despite these unfavorable memories of her high school career, Danielle states that she “learned a lot, had a lot of different experiences, but got a great education ([00:33:03.450–00:36:16.113]).” Having developed a passion for studying psychology, she ultimately pursued it via a Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Rhode Island (URI). Danielle remained heavily involved on campus, cultivating safe spaces for marginalized communities through her membership in various Black student clubs. She helped change the URI indefinitely through her advocacy for better counseling services for Black students, which in turn led to the creation of a new office for her Black peers and other Black students to utilize. Danielle speaks of the experience as “a proud part of [her] journey while [she] was there to have been a part of that protest” emphasizing further how “it feels good to have been a part of that legacy that existed at the University of Rhode Island ([00:47:30.514–00:54:42.364 ]).”
After graduating from college, Danielle married her husband and settled in the Bronx to raise her children, drawn by the strong sense of community prevalent throughout the neighborhood. It was through another mother in Little League that she was introduced to JJAI and decided it was an excellent opportunity to surround her children with other individuals who share similar life experiences. This non-profit organization also provides a space for Black mothers to give back to their communities while promoting the importance of community service to their children. For Danielle, JJAI was the perfect way to provide service to the Bronx community that had helped raise her and whom she loved so dearly. Early in her time at JJAI, Danielle became President of the Bronx chapter. During her short term, she immaculately shaped the chapter’s recruitment and fundraising efforts, including the reinstatement of a fundraising conference at which Danielle herself spoke. Danielle actualizes the mission of the JJAI as it aims to illuminate to people why the Bronx matters, in part due to the people and community it fosters. Through JJAI, Danielle also wants “to show and represent that The Bronx is more than what some people may think of it ([01:10:14.476–01:14:06.734]).” Danielle’s community and home will forever be tied to both JJAI and the Bronx.
