Community Leader of the Year: Jason B. Lockett Sr.

Jason B. Lockett Sr. didn’t set out to start a nonprofit. He set out to buy a car. Good financial advice from the salesperson got him to reevaluate his plan. Shortly after graduating from college, he saw how rare that was — the predatory tactics used against people who didn’t understand the tricky world of finances.

“At some point, someone has to do something,” Lockett says.

In June 2022, Lockett created Breadwinners Academy, a nonprofit that teaches financial literacy and entrepreneurship to those in the Cleveland area. In the past four years, the programs offered have expanded to include taxes, investing, homeownership and car buying.

“What we offer is based on what the community needed,” Lockett says. “Now we’re (teaching) in middle schools; if we can get to them earlier, the better off they’ll be when they get to high school and start making financial decisions.”

Before starting Breadwinners Academy, Lockett was invited by a friend to give a lecture to her high school class. Despite his nerves over having never taught before, Lockett found that the students were eager to learn about financial literacy. He then offered a similar class to the community, which quickly became a series — and then a nonprofit. 

Lockett studied marketing, business administration, entrepreneurship and finance at Notre Dame College, Ashland University and Howard University.

“I’m still learning as I go,” Lockett says. “But when I look back on my life, I don’t want to think, I should have done that, so I went for it, and that mindset allowed me to enter a foreign space.”

In 2020, Lockett started to work full time at The Breadwinners, the financial planning firm he had founded in 2016. He still runs it, alongside his role as executive director of Breadwinners Academy.

“This is the first time I can say I’m happy professionally, and this is the first time in my life where I’m no longer chasing money,” Lockett says. 

Now, Breadwinners Academy teaches in 20 schools, reaching more than 500 students a year. It also offers classes for adults on managing finances and preparing for homeownership.

“I’m not afraid to fail,” Lockett says. “Sometimes I call myself delusional, but it’s all a process; I understand that it takes time to build things.”

The work Lockett put into Breadwinners Academy has paid off. Three of the students who had been with the program have gone on to study entrepreneurship or financial planning at Ohio State University.

“I can’t believe I get to do this on a daily basis,” Lockett says. “Seeing (students) open college acceptance letters, open their first bank account, or set up direct deposit — you get to live these experiences with them and know you had a positive impact on that child in a pivotal moment.” 

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