Influential Woman · Non profit

Jessica Gonzalez

Chief Executive Officer, CUMAC

Paterson, NJ

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Sociology

Her Story

About Jessica

I discovered my passion for social justice work during my first sociology class in college, when I had a moment of realization about the unfairness in society and knew I wanted to help change it. Taking that balcony view of what's happening in society and what has been happening led me to focus on being someone who could step up and make change happen. My first boss, Susan Zellman, who has since passed, was tough and hard to work for, but she really showed me what it is to be a woman in leadership. I cried many days, but looking back now, if she hadn't been tough on me, I wouldn't have learned everything that I did. I used to say I wanted to change the world, and what keeps me going is knowing that I'm changing one person's world. Through my work at CUMAC, I'm focused on making a difference in people's lives and creating transformative change in our communities.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Jessica

01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I think it's be ready for the ride, because it's not easy work. Anybody who thinks that social justice work is easy is not, it is very complicated. It takes patience, it takes heart more than anything else. I think that's key. You have to be hyperactive about understanding how decisions at the government level do trickle down and affect communities that you care about.

02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I think challenges is systems, I think that's a big one that nobody ever talks about. It's how we've created systems that are really complicated, and they don't need to be that complicated. Funding always is number one, but I don't want to sound cliche, but I think systems, the way systems were created, they don't need to be so complicated. There needs to be avenues for partnerships to streamline services and create efficiencies that way with nonprofit partners. I think the opportunity is, I don't know, it's just hard to stay hopeful when it feels like everything is not possible right now. So I think the possibility is if we have more people who are open to possibilities and thinking outside the box, that we can really be transformative in these next 10 years. What keeps me going is that I know that I'm changing one person's world.

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