Her Story
About Jenna
Jenna Ghisolfo brings almost 20 years of experience to the Section 8 and public housing sector. She founded her company nearly nine years ago and leads a national team that partners with nonprofits and other organizations to connect homeless individuals and families in shelters with government-subsidized housing options. On average, the team supports 2,000 to 2,500 families each month, a significant increase from the 50 to 100 families helped in the early days. Jenna holds a bachelor's degree and maintains over a dozen industry certifications covering areas such as leasing, occupancy, government management, and HUD rules and regulations. She attributes her success to consistent hard work and believes strongly in family values as her primary support system. In addition to her professional role, she serves as the current United States of America's Mrs. Arizona, using the platform to promote awareness around ending homelessness.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jenna
01What do you attribute your success to?
Putting in the hard work. It's not just going to be handed to you. You've got to be willing to put in the hard work, and it just makes you more prideful of your accomplishments and the success stories, knowing that you've put in time and blood, sweat, and tears.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Always believe in yourself, because there are times, especially when you are an entrepreneur, that you doubt yourself, or your success, and you wonder whether you should go back and work for a company. And it's always believing in yourself that you can accomplish anything you set your dreams to.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Go for it. There's so much opportunity for women in this industry to make greater impacts that I would highly advise anyone who's considering this industry to get in it, because it's not just rewarding for yourself, but you know you're making a community impact, or a nationwide impact, every day.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The first challenge that we have is NIMBYism. It stands for Not In My Backyard. We're seeing a lot of cities, municipalities not wanting low-income housing to go into their cities. The area for opportunity is there's so much partnership opportunities that are present, whether it's partnering with a nonprofit, a church.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Family values are, first and foremost, the most important to me. My family is everything. They're the reason why I'm able to do what I do. They're my biggest support system and my biggest cheerleaders.
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