Community Leadership Fellows

BARBARA MESCHINO | MSW | DEAN OF WESTSIDE LEARNING CENTER

Barbara Goodall Meschino, 2020 recipient of the NISOD Administrator of Excellence award, currently serves as the Dean of the West Side Learning Center (WSLC), the satellite campus of Malcolm X College. Barbara is a seasoned educator with over fifteen years of experience as an Adult Education teacher and manager. Barbara’s classroom experience includes Language Arts, Mathematics, College Readiness, and Sociology.

As a long-standing resident of Chicago’s west side, Barbara attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory High School from where she later received the 2018 St. Ignatius Alumni Medal for demonstrating commitment to her profession, church, and community. Barbara earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Clark Atlanta University. While attending Clark Atlanta University, Barbara spent two consecutive summers interning in the Austin community at Loretto Hospital within the Community Relations Department Barbara, a Patricia A. Counce (service) Scholarship recipient, completed a Master of Social Work from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Jane Addams College of Social Work in 2000. Barbara is a proud member of the 2020 cohort of the Latino Policy Forum’s MLA, Multicultural Leadership Academy.

Barbara found her passion for education early in her career at a TRIO agency in the Austin Community where she assisted inner-city youth with achieving their post-secondary academic and career goals. When offered the chance to return many years later to serve as an administrator at the West Side Learning Center, she welcomed the opportunity to give back to the community that had given so much to her in the way of educational internships and career pathways. Barbara has served in numerous leadership capacities within Malcolm X College all of which have driven the college to reach unparalleled success in recent years. Her service in numerous committees to drive change for underrepresented minorities propelled her to be the face of Malcolm X College by way of the West Side Learning Center and our community partners.

Barbara is a very compassionate and ethically motivated person who genuinely wants to serve others and her community. Barbara is passionate about building strong communities through access to quality education. She currently serves on the Chicago Public School (CPS), Local School Council at her children’s school and works diligently in the role as the council’s Chair to support the continuous improvement of the school community.

Barbara enjoys traveling, visiting state parks, speaking Italian, and exploring Chicago museums with her family. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority, Inc. Barbara is intentional about enhancing her cultural awareness, and considers herself to be a lifelong learner.

westside stories

Hear from Barbara Meschino, Dean of the West Side Learning Center, Malcolm X College’s satellite location in Austin, as she shares how her lived experiences shaped her career choices and how she is committed to providing West Siders with education and career growth opportunities.

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PASTOR JODY BADY’S SECOND CHANCE

BY LESLY JEAN-PAUL

The American criminal Justice system is not compassionate. It does not usually give second chances, especially to Black men.

Pastor Jody Bady of Jehovah Jireh #1 Outreach Ministry was facing charges that held up to a 60-year prison sentence for his alleged role in criminal drug activities as a member of the Westside’s 4Corner Hustlers Gang.

The charges were the wake-up call Pastor Jody needed to rethink his life. He knew that he had to do something more with his time on earth.

It might sound cliché, but before his case went to trial, Pastor Jody began to turn away from the streets and toward God. He started down a new path, dedicating himself to improving the lives of his neighbors, his people.

Prosecutorial overreach and an empathic judge saw that the case against Pastor Jody dismissed. No prison. No record. A potential 60-year nightmare was erased.

The streets took his cousin, son and nephew – all victims of gang violence – but he knew he couldn’t leave. The streets were a part of him, and he was a part of the streets. When he returned after his case was dismissed, it wasn’t in the same role that saw him featured on an episode of Gangland (Hustle Season 5, Episode 5), it was to spread the word every Wednesday for “100 Churches on 100 Blocks.”

As his following began to grow, Pastor Jody wanted to turn his preaching into action and help supply his community with the tools necessary to improve themselves.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pastor Jody pivoted his efforts to focus on the immediate needs of his community and started a mobile food panty that served up to 1500 people per week. A global pandemic hits differently in areas of disinvestment, and Pastor Jody saw needs that typically would be considered part of the struggle to manifest themselves into critical issues. The need for everyday essentials became a literal life-and-death situation.

They started delivering meals to the homeless, and providing them with blankets, hats and scarfs. They opened a brick-and-mortar pantry to allow people an hour to warm up, eat a hot meal.

Through “On Your Way Blessings” donations from members of the community, Pastor Jody was able to provide coats for kids during their meal deliveries – a targeted way to get items of need in the hands of those who needed them the most.

His boots on the ground approach has provided Pastor Jody with more access to the community and first-hand knowledge of the community’s needs.

For Pastor Jody, he sees a future with an expansion of services that takes a wholistic approach to community building.

Pastor Jody wants to create a synergy of love.

He will tell you that God supplied him with a light. It started with a judge in a Chicago courtroom allowing him to have a second chance at life. He’s taken that light back to the streets as a champion of the people.

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Westside's COMMUNITY heroes

BARBARA MESCHINO | MSW | DEAN OF WESTSIDE LEARNING CENTER

westside stories

PASTOR JODY BADY’S SECOND CHANCE