Suzanne Pickett
Suzanne Pickett, an artist, activist, and community developer born and raised in the historic Eastside of Jacksonville, Florida, has dedicated herself to preserving and restoring her childhood community affectionately known as Outeast. Outeast is one of Jacksonville's oldest and last historic African American neighborhoods that has not been displaced by gentrification. The community was once home to several prominent African Americans, including Eartha Mary White, A. Phillip Randolph, Bob Hayes, and Zora Neale Hurston.
Due to the effects of redlining, lack of community investment, inadequate infrastructure, and rising crime rates, the neighborhood has experienced alarming rates of decline, including in overall life expectancy. After briefly moving away, Suzanne returned to her childhood community and began working to beautify the neighborhood while honoring local legends by creating murals of them on abandoned buildings. Her art became a catalyst for more than a decade of her career as a changemaker.
Suzanne founded the Historic Eastside CDC (HECDC), which serves as a resource and liaison to preserve and transform the Outeast neighborhood through equitable community development by improving access to affordable housing, social services, cultural development, wealth building, education, and safety. As a complement to her work as President of the HECDC, Suzanna also serves as Vice Chair of Lift Jax, a cross-sector group of leaders representing the business community, nonprofits, and philanthropic partners supporting the Outeast community. We are committed to working hand-in-hand with neighborhood leaders.
In 2021, Suzanna participated in My Cause My Cleats by designing an Outeast cleat for former Jaguars linebacker Lerentee McCray. The inspiration and context captured of Suzanne's art and activism feature on the cleat won a local Eddy award.
Through the NFL Foundation's Digital Divide Grant and funding through AT&T, Suzanne created Shofar Recording studio, an affordable, positive, and safe environment for artists of all ages. Suzanne also acts as the Jaguars' liaison with the community.
She is an invaluable member of the Jaguars team and community.