Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jennifer Carter. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jennifer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

I was a part of a series of community conversations, and I noticed there was an intergenerational gap between our younger generation and our elders. The elders had some misconceptions about our youth and vice versa. I came up with hosting a day for our elders and youth to get to know each other. It will be filled with storytelling, a shared meal, and holistic practices so we can work on healing ourselves and improving the community.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a freelance journalist, organizer, and community advocate based in Cleveland, Ohio. I have experience in community outreach, voter engagement, and public speaking. Additionally, I am involved in local art initiatives in the Buckeye/Woodhill area. I am also the Director of Engagement for Rivers in the Desert a non-profit which was co-founded by Sharri & Anthony Thomas. It was created to help provide a safe place for families to process grief following traumatic events like the death of a loved one from violence. I am also a proud member of New Era Cleveland which is a community organization that serves the people in various ways including community patrols, political education, bringing home missing children and food distribution.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

During the Covid lockdown I decided to change career paths from Quality Assurance to political engagement. People were unable to go door to door to canvass their neighborhoods. They were relying on telecommunication. Unfortunately, many people lacked that skillset. That is how I started Carter Consulting to coach and train people on political communication and voter education.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to learn to take risks regardless of my inexperience, I recently wrote and received my first grant. I had absolutely no grant writing experience or education in that area. What I did have was optimism and encouragement. Those two things worked for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://riversinthedesert.org/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.carter.79230305/about

Image Credits

Photo by Sides Imagery: https://www.pexels.com/photo/monochrome-photo-of-resist-signage-3141240/