Jackson M. Smith is proud to serve as Bastion’s Executive Director. After growing up in Washington DC, Jackson moved to New Orleans in 2003 and has called the city his home ever since. A graduate of Tulane University, Jackson was commissioned into the U.S. Marine Corps in 2008. He served on active duty for the next eight years as an infantry officer, completing two deployments to Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011 followed by additional deployments around the world. In 2011 he was recognized as the Second Marine Division’s Platoon Commander of the Year.
In 2015, fed up with missing every Mardi Gras and Saints season, Jackson returned home to New Orleans to attend Tulane Law School on the GI Bill. While in law school he met his future wife Leigh, and the two were married in 2020. They are the proud parents of two daughters.
Coming to Bastion after several years as an attorney, Jackson is overjoyed at the privilege of serving America’s first intentional community for recovering veterans and their family members. It is his honor to serve those who have given so much in service of this country, and to work alongside his teammates to bring Bastion’s groundbreaking model of care to the many more veterans who need and deserve it.