Director Jessye Kass's Goodbye Letter
October 19, 2020
Dear Cambridge Women’s Center Community,
I write to you today with gratitude and a bittersweet goodbye. I will be departing as Director on November 20th. The CWC is in a strong place to move forward with incredible community members geared up to build a sustainable future for themselves and a new leadership model that prioritizes collaboration, equitable pay structures, and a Co-Director system. I am excited for the future of the Center as it celebrates 50 years next spring in 2021.
As a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault, a suicidal teenager, and an adult suffering with anxiety and depression, I felt instantaneously attached to the beauty and uniqueness of this low-threshold community space. Community, safety, and empathy are things I believe to matter most in this world, all of which are tenets of the CWC.
Over the past two and a half years, I have had the honor of working on a variety of projects with hundreds of incredible people while growing as a leader, strategist, and communicator. Most meaningfully, I have had the privilege to work directly with folks utilizing Center services. I have had the honor of being trusted with our community member’s stories and most vulnerable moments. I have witnessed resilience, dedication, healing, and growth.
I have sat with members while they cried and asked to hold my hand. I have built relationships with incredible women and non-binary folks whose stories will never leave me. I have learned to cook Puerto Rican cuisine in the kitchen while dancing and singing. I have had volunteers and staff share intimate stories of why they are connected to this space and who they are. I have had the privilege to train over 170 volunteers to serve in our Drop-in and Helpline. I have been taught how to use chopsticks, how to snarl, how to adapt programming in a crisis, the value of a good laugh in tough moments, and so much more.
Laughter echoing throughout our Center is what I will miss most about the Cambridge Women’s Center. Never before have I witnessed or been a part of such a unique community space. I will always smile remembering the warm hugs, aromas wafting of cultural dishes cooked in our kitchen, witnessing bonding between unlikely groups, and familiar faces and new members regularly returning. Grateful does not even begin to cover how much I will treasure the special memories and lessons learned.
I am moving out of the Greater Boston area, and though I do not know exactly where my next role(s) will take me, continuing to find ways to utilize my privilege to address inequities will be paramount. I will question the problematic realities of a complicated service model within the non-profit industrial complex. I will remain actively committed to disrupting the broken systems that are intentionally structured to harm and oppress.
I would love to stay in touch. My personal email is jessyekass@gmail.com, and my LinkedIn is here. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to talk, provide feedback, or ask any questions.
All my best,
Jessye Kass
Director
Cambridge Women’s Center