Joakeem Gaston learned early that a camera could do more than capture a moment. It could help someone feel seen. Growing up, he was often the person handed the phone or camera to take the picture. When the photos came back, people noticed something.
Joakeem had an eye.
Today, he is a photographer, musician, and advisory board chair of the Josh Kraft Mattapan Teen Center. But his journey with Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston began at age 11, when he walked through the doors of the Berkshire Partners Blue Hill Club.
As a METCO student traveling each day from Roxbury to Newton Public Schools, Joakeem often found himself navigating two very different worlds. At home, the language, food, culture, and community felt familiar. At school, he did not always see those parts of himself reflected back. The Club became the place where he could simply be himself.
“People seeing me for me wasn’t necessarily something that I always got when I was in school,” Joakeem says.
At the Club, his energy, humor, and curiosity were welcomed.
“The foundations for my passions were ignited, well kept, and protected at the Boys & Girls Club,” he says.
Much of that encouragement came from longtime music program staff member Rick Aggeler, now executive director of the Josh Kraft Mattapan Teen Center. When Joakeem kept wandering into the music room, Rick handed him a Pro Tools manual and challenged him to learn it.
Joakeem did.
That experience introduced him to the technical side of music production and sparked a lifelong interest in creative work.
The lesson that stayed with him
At 16, Joakeem was asked to perform at a Boys & Girls Clubs of America national conference in Dallas.
There was one catch. He had been asked to play the keyboard, not the drums he actually played. He wanted to say no.
Instead, Rick and other Club staff encouraged him, rehearsed with him, made sure he had a suit to wear, and convinced him he was ready.
“Had the decision been my own, I would have not shown up,” Joakeem admits.
He did show up, and the experience taught him a lesson he still carries today: you don’t always have to feel ready before saying yes. Sometimes the people who believe in you can see your potential before you can.
Turning passion into a profession
Joakeem’s path to photography began with disposable cameras. Later, he used money from his BGCB Junior Staff job to buy his first camera. What began as a childhood interest eventually grew into a career as a professional photographer.
Like music, photography became a craft he had to study. He learned how to shape light, direct a subject, and frame a moment.
His creative interests continued to grow. In college, he studied live event production, learning about sound, lighting, and the behind-the-scenes systems that make performances possible. A relationship he built as a teenager, and maintained for years, eventually led to his first job in the audio industry.
Looking back, Joakeem sees a clear connection.
“My person, who I am now as a young adult, was shaped by the Boys & Girls Club,” he says.
His connection to BGCB has continued into adulthood. At 21, Joakeem became the youngest advisory board member in BGCB history. His journey into Club leadership grew out of the relationships he developed as a young person. Now serving as advisory board chair of the Josh Kraft Mattapan Teen Center, he has a new appreciation for the people who quietly create opportunities for young people every day.
What legacy means
For Joakeem, legacy is measured by impact.
“There are people who don’t know his name that have felt his impact,” he says of Rick Aggeler.
That example continues to shape the way Joakeem gives back. He photographs community events because he remembers what it feels like to be seen. He serves as advisory board chair because he knows how powerful it is when someone believes you belong.
His advice for today’s Club members is simple: keep a journal, stay connected to the people who helped shape you, and remember that becoming an alum doesn’t mean leaving the Club behind.
“You already know what community is because you’re a BGCB former member,” Joakeem says. “That community doesn’t leave you.”
Joakeem knows how much it matters when someone sees potential in you. Today, through his photography and his leadership at the Mattapan Teen Center, he has an opportunity to do the same for others.
And for the young people coming through the Club doors today, he offers one simple reminder: “Show up. People want to see you. You are never a burden.”
