Her Story
About Jade
I'm a young serial entrepreneur who has dedicated the past 2 years to working full-time in the nonprofit space. My journey began in 2021 while I was still in college, when I founded my first nonprofit, the Fresh Face Fund. During my college years, I also gained valuable experience working in the United States Senate and with the Institute for Policy Studies, focusing on policy work. I earned my degree in political science and psychology from an HBCU, and initially planned to build my career in Washington, D.C. working in politics and legislation. However, my path took an unexpected turn when I was preparing to graduate. Someone who had founded a campus organization I was part of reached out to me about turning it into a nonprofit. That became the second nonprofit I would co-found and go on to lead. Instead of moving to Washington, D.C. as planned, I stayed and built that nonprofit from the ground up. Today, I serve as the COO of Curve University, the nonprofit I co-founded, where I handle the behind-the-scenes organization and operations. My main area of expertise is branding, which I apply across my nonprofit work as well. Each day involves a lot of customer service work, whether with clients or members of our nonprofit and the students we're impacting. I do a lot of communications and designing work, including designing all of our websites for each nonprofit and business I have. I'm most proud of my ability to pivot in so many different ways in a short amount of time, and overall, I'm really proud of the impact that the organizations have had on so many students and young women across the country.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jade
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to God, for sure. As I said, I'm very serious about my faith, and I wouldn't have even thought that this was a possibility if I didn't have faith at all. I would have thought one path was possible for me, and I would have just kept trying to go through that path, but to know that the possibilities are truly endless in this life, that you can do multiple things at once, and that more than one thing can be true at a time has really encouraged me to dream big.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice, and I don't know if this is something I've received or something I just told myself along the way, is that the worst thing somebody can say is no. That's probably one of the best things that has really kept with me, that even if you try and they say no, that's the worst thing they can say to you.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice would be just do it. I know a lot of things can be intimidating. We may not see our faces in different spaces, or may not even think the space is accessible for us, or the space even exists. Something I learned is that you can make your own space, and that you would never know if you do not try. So, to just do it, and do it anyway.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say as a young woman really branching out into entrepreneurship, it can be difficult to connect with people. So that would be one of the challenges in my field, as well as being underrepresented or not taken seriously. But it's something that I see as an opportunity for growth. And I hopefully see that there will be spaces for people like me, for young people who are learning to be an entrepreneur, who are hoping to get into entrepreneurship, to learn, to grow, and to be mentored.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values in my faith are definitely love. Love, I would say, leading with love has shown me a lot as a leader and as a founder. It fuels all my opportunities and partnerships, and helps me see things through a different lens. I also value courage, and I don't hear people mention this often, but courage is something as well. It can be easy to be nervous, or fearful, or unsure, so to just lead with courage as well. And lastly would be integrity. I value honesty and integrity in everything I do. Even if I'm unsure what I'm doing, to be honest in that. I think that results in better outcomes for me, being honest even if I don't know, than not being truthful about it.
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