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05/28/2025

Celebrating a Champion for Ohio’s Students: Jackie Walker Receives National Recognition

Source: SkillsUSA - Ohio, May 2025

SkillsUSA Honors Jackie Walker for Leadership and Service to Ohio
Advocate honored for her contributions to career education and student success

Jackie Walker of Columbus, Ohio, will be recognized by SkillsUSA with an Honorary Life member award during the 2025 National Leadership & Skills Conference in Atlanta. Honorary Life is SkillsUSA’s highest honor, reserved for those who dedicate service to the organization over a long period of time. Recipients are recognized nationally and their name is recorded in SkillsUSA’s official history.

Jackie Walker is the executive director of SkillsUSA Ohio, where she leads with passion, purpose, and a deep commitment to student success. A former emergency trauma nurse with over a decade of frontline experience, Jackie holds a master’s degree in nursing leadership and management systems from Drexel University. Her journey with SkillsUSA began in 2001 as a student at EHOVE Career Center. Inspired by the power of leadership development, she was elected a state officer in 2002 and never looked back.

Balancing a nursing career with a growing role in SkillsUSA, Jackie served as a board member, state staff member, program manager, and assistant state director before stepping into her current role in 2018. She brings a hands-on leadership style, building strong partnerships with educators, communities, and industries across Ohio. Jackie is more than a state director — she’s a counselor, mentor, and advocate who empowers students to become skilled, confident, and workforce-ready. With a sharp focus on the SkillsUSA Framework’s three components and 17 essential elements, Jackie equips students to lead with purpose and communicate with power. “Our words are powerful, and they matter,” she says. “I strive to guide and support our members as they learn to rewrite their own stories.”

“Jackie has been successfully involved with SkillsUSA on the local, state, and national level and made huge contributions to CTE in Ohio and across the nation,” said SkillsUSA Executive Director Chelle Travis. “She is the first to say her involvement in SkillsUSA is both life-changing and rewarding.”

About SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is the #1 workforce development organization for students, empowering them to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible community members. SkillsUSA represents more than 442,000 career and technical education students and teachers in middle schools, high schools and college/postsecondary institutions nationwide. Those members represent 130 in-demand occupational areas, from 3-D animation to welding. A vital solution to the skills gap, SkillsUSA has served over 15 million members since its founding in 1965. Learn more at skillsusa.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn.