[Girls & Boys Town]

Takisha McNeill is Program Operations Manager for Girls and Boys Town of Southern California. In that capacity, she supervises the Long Beach and Los Angeles Emergency Shelter and Assessment Centers.

As Program Operations Manager, Takisha works closely with the directors at the two centers in a consultative and support role to ensure that the Girls and Boys Town mission and model are being delivered effectively. An important facet of her role is to provide objective observations, feedback and suggestions to the key people charged with managing these facilities based on both qualitative and quantitative measures.

As an undergraduate at Cal State Fullerton, she became fascinated with behavior through an introductory psychology class and found her calling. While an undergrad, she worked at a group home and opened a highly structured residential treatment center in Southern California for children with the most severe challenges and needs. She then earned a master's degree, also in psychology, from Pepperdine University and gained experience as a therapist and social worker before joining Girls and Boys Town.

"Girls and Boys Town was very exciting to me with its structured approach and model that are very well researched and proven to be effective," Takisha noted. "And their significant investment in training told me they were really serious about helping kids get better and changing the way America cares for children and families."

When she joined the staff in January of 2004 as Director of the Los Angeles center, she immediately went into a nine-month intensive administrator leadership training program at the home campus in Omaha. This experience also included two months of hands-on work as director of the girls shelter in New Orleans.

Takisha takes her dedication to helping children lead better lives into her personal time as well. She volunteers as director of youth services for Daughters of Sarah, a faith-based social mentoring program for girls. And she is a Big Sister. She also enjoys travel and recently returned from a two-week trip to Paris.

"Being in the field of advocating for people is what I've devoted my life to," Takisha stated. "I'm committed to helping achieve positive outcomes for kids in need, to be part of the solution. It's my passion."

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