Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce Announces 2023 Diversity Council Chair, Jakavious Pickett

The Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce Jakavious Pickett as the chair of the Diversity Council for 2023. 

Jakavious Terrell Pickett is a native of Crystal Springs, MS. He is married to Natasha Pickett, and they have two children, Shae, and Jaquille. Jakavious served in the United States Air Force for 21 years. He currently works in Community Relations at Huntington Ingalls in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and he is the former Program Director for the East Biloxi Community Collaborative. 

Jakavious serves as the Lead Pastor of Praise Temple Full Gospel Baptist Church of Biloxi, MS, since its establishment in January 2015. He began his Pastoral Ministry in May 2013 when he established the New Birth FGBC of Biloxi. He is a 2017 recipient of the Bishop Paul S. Morton Award for Pastoral Excellence in the Emerging Church of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International. 

Jakavious is a member of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International (FGBCFI). As a member of the FGBCFI, Jakavious has served in numerous capacities throughout his tenure, but he currently serves as the General Overseer of Covenant Partners where he oversees the Covenant Partner membership program which encourages giving that enables the Full Gospel Fellowship's unique expression of faith by expanding, changing, and curating how the kingdom is viewed by culture. 

 Jakavious is the Founder of the F.R.E.E. Foundation in which he founded along with his wife Natasha in 2007. This foundation provides first-class ministry to youth in rural areas across the state of Mississippi. Jakavious serves on multiple Executive Boards in the coastal Mississippi area, including Mississippi Tobacco-Free Coalition, East Biloxi Community Collaborative (EBCC), Leadership Gulf Coast, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Gulf Coast, Legacy Business League, and Feeding the Gulf Coast's Advisory Board. Jakavious is a 2016 graduate of Leadership Gulf Coast. He is the 2016 recipient of the One Coast Award for Top 10 Business Leaders Under 40 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a two-time recipient of the Dorothy Ashley award (2015 and 2018) from the Biloxi NAACP Chapter for being a Top Religious Leader in Biloxi, MS, 2018 One Coast Top 10 Community Leader, and the Forever Young Award. 

Jakavious honors the call and position that God has blessed him to have as it provides him with the opportunity to cause a change in the spiritual and natural realm. He considers himself a bridge that brings together the church and the business community to cause a change in Coastal Mississippi. Jakavious serves to fulfill his desire to be a pillar in the community and society to see it become a productive place by empowering those around him to pursue their destiny.