Jo White, Founder of Saving Our Youth Virginia, understands that the youth are our future. Since June of 2009, she has served as our CEO/Executive Director. Saving Our Youth was developed to support the need for developmental help for at-risk youths in the Richmond Metropolitan area through 2 programs: Higher Education and Juvenile Rearing for troubled youths. Jo works with the youth and partners with other organization to bring the programs necessary to fulfill SOYs goals of helping youth work their way through obstacles and become productive adults. 

Jo’s heart to help youth in Higher Education started years before founding Saving Our Youth. Growing up in Newark NJ, she graduated as Valedictorian of her Junior High, and as the 6th-ranking student out her 1000-member high school class. With those rankings, Jo thought that college would be a breeze for her, but she quickly realized that she hadn’t received the quality and depth of teaching that students in predominately white schools had enjoyed. Because of that, Jo vowed to make sure that if she had children, they would go to good schools. Now with a grown daughter who practices medicine in Tampa FL, Jo has vowed to help more youth reach their goals of going to college and becoming leaders in Richmond.