April 25, 2022

Siria Ana Rivera – Executive Director, Providence Center

Providence Center is a sponsored ministry of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.

Shaakinaa Drakeford-Cheatham, our Youth Program Coordinator, has been a part of the Providence Center family for over four years. She first started as a teacher in our Power after-school program, where she taught 4th-6th graders, and we supported her as she began and completed a Master’s program in Human Services. Today, Shaakinaa continues to serve as a teacher to students and works directly with our Teen Leaders and Youth Advocates.

Shaakinaa provides one-on-one guidance and organizes and supervises personal and professional development opportunities throughout the year and during our annual Summer Leadership Academy for our students. She serves as an excellent role model for our after-school students and teens and younger staff members. Shaakinaa has served as an interim director, graciously stepping up when the team needed her. She is a great example of hard work, passion, and commitment to our mission, and is an invaluable member of our team.

This past Fall, Shaakinaa and her husband Derek welcomed a beautiful baby boy, Kairo, into the world, growing the Providence Center family by one more! We are so proud of how much Shaakinaa has grown throughout the past few years. She is the perfect example of why investing in a young professional is so important.