Cora Jackson-Fossett

Cora Jackson-Fossett is the managing editor for the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper, the largest and oldest Black-owned newspaper on the West Coast.

Previously, she worked 15 years as the public affairs director for the L.A. City Department of Public Works where she earned five L.A. Emmy nominations for public works videos and DVDs.

Jackson-Fossett also worked in public relations for Los Angeles International Airport and the Chicago and Long Beach postal facilities. Jackson-Fossett retired in 2014 after 36 years of government service.

Currently, she serves on the L.A. County 211 Board of Directors, the SEIU Local 721 Retirees Leadership Group and the NAACP Beverly Hills/Hollywood Chapter Theatre Committee. She is also a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, Crenshaw Manor Homeowners Association, Mothers In Action and Brookins-Kirkland Community A.M.E. Church.

Jackson-Fossett is a laryngectomee and serves on the International Association of Laryngectomees Board of Directors. In 2020, she was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer and her voice box was removed. She completed radiation and chemotherapy treatments and so far, she is cancer-free.

A native of Gary, IN, Jackson-Fossett earned a bachelor’s degree at Indiana University, completed graduate courses at Columbia College, and received an honorary doctorate from California University of Theology.