By Wyatt Miller
Years ago, Dr. Angela Parker was a newspaper reporter, assigned to write a story about Jenesse Center, Inc. When she arrived, the facilities, programming and passionate staff blew her away.
A few months later, she was contacted by the organization's CEO, Karen Earl, who felt she had made a real connection to the work and wanted her to join them. Already rethinking her career direction, Parker decided to work at Jenesse Center for a year while she figured out her true passion. That was 20 years ago.
"As it turns out, what I really wanted to do was empower others to break the cycle of violence in their own lives and to lead more purposeful and fulfilling lives," Parker said.
Now, Parker is the director of community engagement and education at Jenesse Center, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, working closely with leadership and community partners to help aid victims of domestic violence as well as educate the public to help prevent it.
At a recent event, the Rams surprised her with a $5,000 check made out to the organization and named her the ninth Rams "pLAymaker" of 2025.
"Being named a playmaker involves impressing upon young people the importance of understanding themselves, as well as their needs, while also respecting the needs of others," Parker said. "Our youth are our future. Giving them the tools they need to thrive is work that I am honored to do."
Through Jenesse Center's Jeneration J initiative, Dr. Parker has provided outreach, education and prevention resources to over 10,000 youth and parents across elementary, middle, high school and college communities.
Their website details 14 different services that help to intervene or prevent domestic violence. They also list opportunities to donate to, volunteer at and join programs created by the Jenesse Center.
When she began working at Jenesse Center, talking about domestic violence "was still very much taboo," she said. There were many misconceptions about what abuse looked like, and toxic relationships "were very much glorified and normalized," she said. Now, people are more willing to have conversations surrounding those difficult topics, but there is still a constant need to spread awareness and support.
"Jenesse Center's mission has always been to help those impacted by domestic and sexual violence through holistic, trauma informed, culturally responsive services, and advance prevention initiatives that foster and sustain healthy, violence free communities," Parker said. "We seek to prevent and end the cycle of domestic violence through education, public awareness and outreach initiatives, public policy and advocacy strategies, and innovative collaborations with key partners."
Schools have opened their campuses to Jenesse Center so they can help the youth to better recognize toxic and abusive behaviors. Open dialogue about personal improvement, relationships and communities at large are all things that Parker and the Jenesse Center at large have sought to increase through their programs.
In addition to educating the youth about these issues, inspiring change means "empowering people to create a new normal for themselves," Parker said, and not being held back by the past.
"First, we need to be the change we want to see," Parker said. "We can't wait for someone else to tackle a problem we feel passionate about. Secondly, and it appears we have lost the ability to hope. For me, holding on to our hope is the foundation of change, because it allows us to believe that things can be different. It motivates us to work towards a better future. Without that, we become complacent and start to believe nothing can ever be better and allows anger and bitterness to grow in places where love and happiness would serve us so much better."
