Her Story
About Jasmine
Jasmine Reese has spent more than two decades reshaping the trajectory of at-risk youth and young adults across Greenville, South Carolina, blending nonprofit leadership with faith-based ministry to create lasting change in her community. As Youth and Young Adult Program Director at Mill Village Ministries, she leads the PROPEL initiative, which equips high school and college students with career readiness credits, character development, and hands-on apprenticeship experience through the organization's enterprises, including a bike shop and working farm. Her programming extends into young adulthood as well, where she partners with housing organizations to provide stable housing, financial coaching, therapy, and life-skills support to students pursuing technical and community college education.
Beyond her work in program development, Reese has served for six years as pastor of Life Support Ministries, cultivating an intimate, relational approach to spiritual growth that unfolds in living rooms and community spaces rather than conventional church settings. Her ministry reflects a broader philosophy centered on authenticity, restoration, and building safe environments where individuals can confront hardship and rediscover purpose. This same conviction fuels her latest venture, the RISE program, an alternative to incarceration designed to give justice-involved youth a genuine path toward education, mentorship, and reintegration into society. She is also the author of Unauthorized Relationships, a book examining unhealthy relational patterns, and hosts the podcast The Diplomatic Review, extending her voice and mission beyond direct service work.
Reese's dedication to youth empowerment is deeply personal, shaped by profound loss and self-discovery that she has transformed into a driving force for helping others heal. As a single mother, she raised two sons to successful high school graduation and college enrollment while simultaneously building her ministry and nonprofit initiatives, an achievement she counts among her proudest. Now completing her bachelor's degree with graduation slated for December, she continues expanding her reach through speaking engagements, writing projects, and community partnerships, all while holding fast to the values of faith, humility, and service that have defined her career from the very beginning.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jasmine
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my faith, perseverance, authenticity, and compassion, along with the personal life experiences I've walked through. The difficult seasons I've endured have equipped me to genuinely connect with and serve others. I've also become what I needed as a young person myself — working through my own grief and growth, including therapy, and leaning on the strong community support and mentors around me. My faith and persistence in serving youth continue to carry me forward.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The greatest guidance I've received hasn't come in a single piece of advice, but through my faith journey, my life experiences, and the relationships that have shaped me throughout ministry and community service. My personal experiences have become my greatest teachers and my deepest motivation for serving others.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I encourage young women entering this field to remain authentic and to embrace their own journey. Difficult life experiences should never be allowed to define or limit your future — healing, purpose, and service can emerge from even life's greatest challenges.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the greatest challenges I see is providing long-term support for vulnerable youth once they leave traditional programs. I also see students being cycled into incarceration or other punitive systems over issues like truancy, often driven by broader environmental and community factors rather than the young people themselves. The opportunity lies in developing holistic programs that combine education, employment, housing, mentoring, life coaching, and emotional support to create lasting change. I'm also focused on building real alternatives to incarceration, like the RISE program I'm developing, expanding housing-plus-mentorship models for young adults, and scaling enterprise-based apprenticeships that offer genuine employment pathways.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Faith, compassion, authenticity, and service guide everything I do, alongside restoration, integrity, and a commitment to creating safe spaces where people can heal, grow, and discover their purpose. I also hold family-first priorities and humility close, and I try to lead with authenticity rather than self-promotion.
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