Her Story
About Jennifer
I've worked in nonprofits since I was a teenager. A nonprofit called Upward Bound identified me as a struggling student, provided tutoring and summer programs at Evergreen State College, which launched my path to a bachelor's degree there. I experienced mentorship for the first time, tutored others, did Running Start, and decided to pay it forward by working in nonprofits to help other young people overcome their circumstances. I briefly did corporate marketing but returned to nonprofits because that's where my passion is. At Big Brothers Big Sisters, I direct the enrollment team and reduced processing time from over 300 days to around 40 days. Over the past 5 years I've discovered a real passion for sewing and fiber arts, and I'm excited to bring together my professional experiences with my personal passion and build toward entrepreneurship in that space.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jennifer
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would attribute my success to mentorship and resilience. I have refused to be defeated by life. Success is not final, and failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. Courage. Just be brave and keep going.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
It's okay to try things out. You don't have to know right now what you're gonna do for the rest of your life. Life is a journey of discovering who you are, and listening to what you learn along the way. It's okay to try something out and not like it, or not be good at it, or not feel fired up by it. Just say, hey, you know, I tried that, it didn't work for me, and move on. And that's alright.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge and opportunity in the nonprofit world is that nonprofits with lower resources are not able to meet modern demands and expectations. Nonprofits process things more slowly because we don't have the resources. The focus is on how to automate what's automatable at a manageable price point while keeping the human work done by humans.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Shared humanity. We are in a moment where it's easy to other each other instead of focusing on the traits that all human beings share, and how we're all just trying to make it through this long, hard, complicated thing we call life. Humanity.
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