Jessica Moore: Leading as a Community Organizer
Jessica Moore
Class 2, Lead
What is your Vision for Impact statement?
My original Vision for Impact statement was about hoping to implement a program in the schools about gardening, cooking, and eating. I have a real passion for educating low-income families about what to do with fruits and vegetables because I grew up low-income. I think that my relationship with food has had a huge impact on my life in general because we always gardened and had fresh vegetables no matter what came in the food pantry box. I think that's helped my health, my mental health, my social life and gave me a set of unique skills regarding cooking and food preparation. While I wanted to bring this into the schools, School Board School taught me a few key lessons. Students don't necessarily need more stuff to do and more people telling them “Hey, I've got this thing I want to do for you” they really need an opportunity to be heard. Second, a program like this would have most likely required curriculum and policy changes to be truly successful.
My Vision for Impact statement on the last day of the learning program at School Board School was that I needed a new job. I wanted to do this kind of work full-time and not just in my free time and I knew that meant making a career change. I now get to do what I am passionate about and make change through work!
Can you talk about your current work and what led you to that change?
I am a community organizer for Cohear, a company that is doing something that hasn't really been done before! Cohear believes that those living through an everyday issue are experts at the issue. Cohear believes that these experts need to be heard by decision-makers in order to make better decisions. We run something similar to focus groups where leaders are in the meetings with the participants. For example, the President and Chief Marketing Officer of Metro worked in a group with 10 people who ride the bus every day so that they, the executive at the top, could hear directly from those who experience the Metro service.
My job is to find these everyday experts and bring them to the table. Our biggest client is Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) and I am excited to connect everyday experts with those who are making decisions.
I began this role in May of 2020 after my husband and I volunteered with them as “Bridgebuilders” and experts. Prior to this, I was working as a nanny and a chef. This job as a community organizer is the perfect job for me, it just didn't exist yet. I was a communications major at a liberal arts college. The thing I was naturally born to do is make friends and connect with friends. Interpersonal communication is invaluable because I feel like most people don’t really communicate well most of the time."
How have you felt your SBS training/learnings in your new role?
First, the power of our network and coalition. It is my job to find people that care about stuff. I also have a lot more confidence because I feel like I know a lot about policy and working in the world of policy change. In my new role I feel all of the knowledge that I've learned, the connections that I've made, and the ability and confidence to talk to people in power.
What do you love about your new role?
I love getting to find out what makes everyone special. I'm one of those people who can get super excited about anything you're excited about. I get to talk to people all over the city, all ages, all walks of life and get to know what they are awesome at. Also, honestly the team that we're working with - I am super lucky to be a minority at my work. These past couple years I've done a lot of listening, starting with School Board School, and then with my team. We are all so different, and I love the team.
What impact are you (and/or your team) making in your new role?
Even though I'm not a parent of a kid in CPS schools, I have quite a bit of knowledge of what you're going through and some of the frustrations you may be experiencing with enrollment or distance learning, etc. Communication has been an area of focus for CPS and we are trying to support them. I bring the confidence from our learnings at SBS to help me operate and navigate within such a large district to support systems-level change.
Anything else you want to highlight?
Shout out to everyone in School Board School! My closest friends in Cincinnati are in School Board School.