About RJEF
The Rashawn Jackson Endowment Fund was founded in 2022 in partnership with the Community Foundation of New Jersey. What began as a few sessions has grown into a full education and wellness model.
OUR STORY
Built in the backfield. Carried home.
Rashawn Jackson came up in Jersey City and walked the halls of St. Peter's Prep before earning his way to the University of Virginia and the NFL. When the playing days ended, he came home and went to work. More than a decade later, RJEF is in classrooms, gyms, and community centers across Los Angeles, Hudson, Essex, and Union Counties — face to face with kids who deserve someone in their corner.
THE TEAM
Program Leadership
Rashawn Jackson
FOUNDER AND PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Before he ever led a program, he led a backfield.
Rashawn Jackson came up in Jersey City. He walked the halls of St. Peter's Prep, then earned his way onto the field at the University of Virginia, where he was ranked the number one fullback in the country. That work carried him to the NFL, to the Carolina Panthers and the Oakland Raiders. He lined up in the backfield, where there is no glory and no name in the headline. The fullback takes the punishment meant for someone else, throwing his body into a defender twice as angry so the runner behind him slips through clean. He absorbs the blow, swallows the pain, gets up, and does it again. It is the hardest, most thankless position in the game, and the reason it has nearly vanished from football. Few men are built to give everything and ask for nothing. Rashawn was one of them, and it is the same calling he answers today.
When the playing days ended, a lot of guys rest. Rashawn came home and went to work.
For more than a decade he has been in the classrooms, gyms, and community centers across Los Angeles, Hudson, Essex, and Union Counties, face to face with kids from third grade through high school. He has been bicoastal since 2012, when he left Carolina for Oakland, and he never let the distance pull him from the neighborhoods that raised him. In 2022 he founded the Rashawn Jackson Endowment Fund in partnership with the Community Foundation of New Jersey. What began as a few sessions built on what sports teaches a kid — discipline, accountability, how to get back up — has grown into a full education and wellness model reaching health, financial literacy, and career readiness.
The place that made him has not forgotten him. Rashawn is a Hudson County Hall of Famer, recognized by the people who watched him grow from a local kid into someone the next generation looks up to.
The reach speaks for itself. More than 50 schools have opened their doors to RJEF, 30 this year alone. Over a thousand young people have come through, and every one got somebody in their corner who had already been where they are trying to go.
That is the work. It is not finished. Rashawn is still in the backfield, still clearing the path, still betting on the kid nobody else picked.
Bradford Christian
CHAIR, RJEF · PROGRAM STRATEGIST & CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Brad Christian is the kind of person who changes the trajectory of a room. As Chair of the Rashawn Jackson Endowment Fund, Brad oversees curriculum development, facilitator management, and the program budget — bringing more than 20 years of experience in learning, development, and corporate strategy to every decision he makes on behalf of RJEF students.
His work with young people is personal. Brad's mentoring approach starts with understanding where each student is — their goals, their circumstances, their potential — and building a tailored plan to get them where they need to go, whether that path leads to a four-year university, a skilled trade, entrepreneurship, or professional sports. He has chaired endowments with NBA and NFL athletes, advised college athletes on Name, Image, and Likeness contracts, and led financial literacy workshops for high school athletes and their families across the country.
Outside of RJEF, Brad has partnered with Fortune 500 companies including United Airlines and Mastercard, and serves as an agent for college and professional athletes — guiding them through one of the most important and often misunderstood transitions of their lives. His command of NIL strategy and financial literacy makes him one of the most well-positioned advocates in the country for young athletes who deserve more than just a scholarship conversation.
Brad does not show up to check a box. He shows up to change outcomes.
Antoinette Brown
MEDIA AND MARKETING CAMPAIGN OVERSIGHT
Antoinette Brown carries a legacy that most people only read about in the history books. She is the daughter of Willie Brown — the legendary Oakland Raiders cornerback, Hall of Fame inductee, and coach whose name is synonymous with Raider pride and professional football excellence. That connection to the game, to the organization, and to what it means to represent something bigger than yourself is not background noise for Antoinette. It is the foundation she stands on.
Antoinette remains an active and visible presence within the Raiders organization and the Pro Football Hall of Fame community, serving as a committed steward of everything her father built and the standard he set.
That same dedication to legacy, visibility, and storytelling is exactly what she brings to RJEF. As the lead for media and marketing campaign oversight, Antoinette ensures that the work RJEF does inside schools does not stay inside schools. She drives program visibility across partner networks, school communities, and grant stakeholders through stakeholder communications, year-end showcases, family engagement campaigns, and consistent brand alignment across every platform RJEF touches.