After former Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson lost his bid to unseat Mayor Marty Walsh in last year's November election, it wasn't clear what would be his next move. 

Since the election, he’s taken time off to be with family and travel. He recently returned from a trip to Cape Town, South Africa, where he was a panelist on education and activism and met Nobel Peace Prize Awardee and activist Desmond Tutu, one of his heroes.

But this week, Somerville-based non-profit Parenting Journey announcedJackson would be joining the team as its first Social and Family Justice Fellow, a three-month stint that will allow the former city councilor to maintain his commitment to social justice and strengthening families and communities of color.

Jackson embraces the philosophy of the 35-year-old non-profit and its effort to stop the cycle of poverty by offering peer-guided parenting groups.

"I firmly believe the people that are closest to a problem are the ones who have the solutions," Jackson said, "so the objective is going to be around empowering the parents.”

“The timing couldn’t be better to have someone of Tito’s experience to come and lead this new initiative around family and community engagement," said Imari Paris Jeffries, executive director of Parenting Journey.

In his new role, Jackson will continue advocating for pay equity and affordable housing, which are issues he fought for as a city councilor.