An intimate exploration of the unseen strength, sacrificial love, and quiet courage required of women who lead missions in service to others. This article honors the personal cost of purpose-driven leadership and emphasizes that true influence is built through faithfulness, compassion, and consistent presence rather than public recognition.
Her Story
About Cherie
Cherie Privett is the Founder and Executive Director of City Missions, a nonprofit based in Plano, Texas, dedicated to serving individuals experiencing homelessness through practical support, relationship-centered outreach, and pathways toward long-term stability.
Her leadership is shaped by more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit work, church ministry, operations, marketing, customer engagement, and community service. It is also deeply personal. Having experienced homelessness herself, Cherie brings a firsthand understanding of the challenges people face when navigating housing insecurity, limited resources, and the need for consistent support.
Before founding City Missions, Cherie built a broad career in church administration and ministry leadership, where she developed experience in volunteer coordination, event planning, communications, organizational systems, and team development. Her background across nonprofit service, business operations, and community engagement strengthened her ability to build partnerships, improve processes, and mobilize people around a shared mission.
Through City Missions, Cherie focuses on both immediate aid and long-term solutions. The organization provides outreach, basic needs support, housing assistance, and initiatives designed to help individuals move toward employment, self-sufficiency, and stability. Her approach emphasizes dignity, consistency, and personal connection, with relationships serving as the foundation for lasting change.
Cherie is also actively engaged in the local community as a Plano Chamber ambassador and advocate for partnerships that bring people, churches, businesses, and community leaders together to address homelessness in practical and compassionate ways. Across all of her work, her mission remains the same: to help people feel seen, supported, and given real opportunities to rebuild their lives.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Cherie
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to faith, perseverance, and the strength of community. City Missions began as a calling from God, and the journey has continually reminded me that meaningful work is never built alone. I have been able to move forward because of the relationships around me: the individuals we serve, our board, our volunteers, community partners, mentors, and my family.
My own life has taught me that healing, stability, and growth happen through connection. When I allowed healthy community into my life, it helped me navigate challenges I could not have carried by myself. That experience now shapes the way I lead City Missions. We are not just offering services; we are helping people know they are seen, valued, and not alone.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I have received is not to do life or leadership alone. Surround yourself with people who are wiser than you, willing to challenge you, and committed to the mission. For me, that advice has meant seeking mentors, listening well, building strong peer relationships, and staying grounded in faith. Leadership can feel heavy, especially in nonprofit work, but the right community helps you carry the vision with wisdom, humility, and perseverance.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering nonprofit work is to find a mentor early and do not be afraid to ask questions. Nonprofit leadership is deeply meaningful, but it has many layers, including programs, fundraising, compliance, partnerships, volunteers, operations, and emotional resilience. Learning from someone who has already walked the road can help you avoid unnecessary mistakes and grow with wisdom.
I also believe strongly in peer-to-peer relationships. I have mentors, I have peers, and I mentor others. Staying connected at every level is important. Most importantly, stay close to the people you serve. The mission should never become only paperwork, programs, or strategy. It should always remain rooted in dignity, relationship, and real community impact.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in homelessness services right now is the gap between immediate needs and long-term housing solutions. Many individuals need more than a meal, clothing, or hygiene items. They need safe housing, consistent support, employment pathways, transportation, and a community that believes they can rebuild their lives.
At the same time, I believe there is a tremendous opportunity for nonprofits, churches, businesses, local leaders, and community members to work together in more practical and relational ways. Homelessness is not solved by one organization alone. It requires partnerships that combine compassion with structure, immediate care with long-term planning, and resources with relationships. That is where I see the greatest opportunity for meaningful change.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that guide both my work and personal life are faith, dignity, compassion, relationship, integrity, and balance. In my work, I want every person experiencing homelessness to know they are not alone. Whether we are providing clothing, hygiene items, housing support, or simply taking time to listen, the goal is to create a space where people feel seen, respected, and supported.
I believe every person has a story that matters. One of my greatest joys is sitting with someone, hearing their story, and helping them take the next step forward. In my personal life, my husband and I are deeply committed to our faith and family. We love spending time with our sons and making space to rest and reconnect. Boundaries are important to me because sustainable service requires a healthy life. You cannot pour into others well if you never allow yourself time to be renewed.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Cherie
The Woman Behind the Mission
Finding strength in service and the unseen work that transforms lives.
The Woman Behind the Mission
The Quiet Courage It Takes to Lead, Serve, and Keep Showing Up
When people see a woman leading a mission, they often see the visible parts first.
They see:
- The title
- The organization
- The events
- The partnerships
- The impact
- The photos
- The programs
- The community support
They may see the moments when the work looks inspiring from the outside.
But what they do not always see is the woman behind it all.
The woman who carried the vision before it had structure.
The woman who kept believing before others fully understood.
The woman who answered the call before she knew every step it would require.
The woman who had to grow into the weight of the assignment while still learning how to carry it.
Purpose-Driven Leadership Is Beautiful, But It Is Not Light
Purpose-driven leadership asks something of a woman.
It asks for:
- Courage when resources are limited
- Faith when the path is unclear
- Humility when there is still so much to learn
- Perseverance when the need is greater than what one person or one organization can solve alone
- Compassion when others are hurting
- Strength when the work becomes personal
And often, it asks her to keep showing up even when no one sees the full weight she is carrying.
For women who lead in service, advocacy, ministry, nonprofit work, or community care, leadership is rarely just about managing programs.
It is about carrying people in your heart.
It is about seeing needs that cannot be unseen.
It is about sitting across from someone’s pain and choosing not to look away.
People Need More Than Resources
In my work serving individuals experiencing homelessness, I have learned that people do not only need resources.
They need:
- Dignity
- Consistency
- Compassion
- Housing
- Support
- Safety
- Relationships
- Someone willing to listen
- Someone who believes their story matters
A meal matters. Clothing matters. Hygiene matters. Housing matters. But relationship also matters.
Sometimes the most powerful thing we can offer another person is the steady presence of someone who refuses to treat them like a problem to be managed.
People are not projects. They are human beings with:
- Stories
- Wounds
- Hopes
- Gifts
- Dreams
- Futures
That belief changes the way a woman leads.
It keeps her close to the mission.
It reminds her that success is not always measured only in numbers, reports, or public recognition.
Sometimes success is found in:
- A conversation on a street corner
- A person accepting help for the first time
- A small step toward stability
- A moment of trust
- A reminder that someone is not alone
And many times, those moments may never be seen by the public.
But they still matter.
Compassion and Strength Must Work Together
Leadership rooted in service requires both compassion and strength.
Compassion allows us to see people clearly. Strength allows us to keep going when the work is hard.
There are days when the need feels overwhelming. There are moments when:
- The solutions feel too slow
- The resources feel too limited
- The obstacles feel too many
- The stories feel heavy
- The next step feels uncertain
Anyone who has worked closely with people in crisis understands that helping others rebuild their lives is not simple. It takes:
- Time
- Trust
- Community
- Patience
- Consistency
- Long-term commitment
And it takes leaders who are willing to remain steady. That steadiness is one of the hidden parts of influence.
Influence Is Not Always Loud
Influence is not always on a stage. It is not always attached to:
- A microphone
- A title
- A spotlight
- A public award
- A large audience
Sometimes influence looks like:
- Opening the door again
- Making the call again
- Praying again
- Planning again
- Listening again
- Trying again
- Showing up again
The world often celebrates the outcome, but many women know the real work happens in the unseen places: the private decisions, the quiet sacrifices, the late nights, the hard conversations, the moments of doubt, and the choice to continue when walking away would be easier.
That is where influence is often built—not in applause, but in faithfulness.
Faith Has Been Central to My Journey
For me, faith has been central to this journey. City Missions began from a calling, and that calling has continued to shape the work. Faith does not mean the road is always easy. It means there is a reason to keep walking it. It means the mission is bigger than comfort. It means people are worth serving, even when the work requires more than expected.
But I have also learned something very important: no woman is meant to carry a mission alone.
Community Is Part of the Solution
Community matters.
Mentorship matters.
Partnership matters.
Family matters.
Healthy support matters.
There was a time in my own life when I needed community and did not know how to find it. That experience shaped my understanding of what many people face when they are trying to rebuild. It is hard to move forward without support. It is hard to heal in isolation. It is hard to believe in a different future when no one is walking beside you.
That is why community is not just a nice idea.
Community is part of the solution.
When people are surrounded by healthy support, they begin to see possibilities again.
When churches, nonprofits, businesses, volunteers, and local leaders work together, change becomes more practical.
When compassion is paired with structure, people can move from simply surviving to truly rebuilding.
Women in Leadership Need Support Too
The same is true for women in leadership. We need people around us who:
- Speak wisdom
- Offer encouragement
- Challenge us with love
- Remind us why the work matters
- Help us stay grounded
- Walk with us through difficult seasons
Mentors help us navigate seasons we have never walked through before. Peers remind us that we are not alone. Family helps us stay rooted. The people we serve keep us connected to the purpose of the mission.
Leadership becomes healthier when it is not isolated. One of the greatest lessons I have learned is this:
Strong women still need support.
We need:
- Boundaries
- Rest
- Family
- Prayer
- Encouragement
- Safe relationships
- Time to be renewed
A life of service does not mean losing yourself completely in the needs around you. Sustainable service requires balance. You cannot pour into others well if you are never willing to be refilled.
Purpose Should Not Destroy the Person Carrying It
For women who carry big visions, this can be difficult to accept.
We often feel responsible for everything.
We see the need and want to respond.
We hear the stories and want to help.
We know the mission matters, so we keep pushing forward.
But purpose should not destroy the person carrying it.
A woman can be deeply committed and still need rest. She can be strong and still need encouragement. She can be called and still need community. She can lead with passion and still need healthy boundaries. This is not weakness.
It is wisdom.
The woman behind the mission must also be cared for, because the mission is strengthened when the leader is healthy, grounded, and supported.
Real Influence Is Built Through Faithfulness
As women, we sometimes believe influence means doing more, carrying more, and proving more. But real influence is not only about how much we can accomplish. It is about how faithfully we steward what has been placed in our hands.
It is about:
- The way we treat people
- The way we build trust
- The way we honor stories
- The way we create room for dignity
- The way we lead with compassion
- The way we continue with integrity
- The way we keep showing up, even when no one is applauding
The woman behind the mission may not always be seen in full, but her impact is felt.
It is felt in:
- The people she serves
- The relationships she builds
- The volunteers she encourages
- The community she helps awaken
- The lives that begin to believe hope is possible again
That is the kind of influence that lasts. Not influence built only on visibility, but influence built on faithfulness. Not influence built only on recognition, but influence built on service. Not influence built only on achievement, but influence built on love, dignity, courage, and consistency.
The Quiet Courage to Keep Showing Up
Every mission has a public side.
But behind it is a woman who made a decision to care.
To lead.
To build.
To serve.
To keep showing up.
And sometimes, that quiet courage is what changes everything.
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