Jessica Gaffney, CEO and Executive Director of Women@Austin
Jessica is the CEO & Executive Director of Women@Austin, where she steers the organization's mission to advance and empower women entrepreneurs. She is an entrepreneur herself, having co-founded Pro Mama, a community and resource for moms to help them find flexible work. She has over 15 years of experience in development and marketing in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. Previously, she served as Development Director for Sustainable Food Center and on the Austin - Travis County Food Policy Board, helping people access fresh food in Central Texas. Jessica received her BA in Marketing and Small Business Management from Georgetown University. Now, she lives with her husband, 6 year-old daughter, and 2 year-old son in Austin, Texas.
Q: Why do you choose to spend your time mentoring others?
A: Serving and supporting others is at the core of how I want to live my life, and mentoring is one of my favorite ways to live by my core values. I integrate mentoring into all aspects of my professional life from formal mentoring and management practices to supporting colleagues and friends. I am particularly passionate about supporting women entrepreneurs because when women succeed, families, communities and other women succeed - I call it the ripple effect.
Q: What do you personally gain from mentoring?
A: Through mentoring, not only am I making an impact in someone’s life but I also gain so much from it. In my most successful mentoring relationships, I’ve learned just as much from my mentee as they have learned from me. This is particularly true for my most recent mentoring experience with Ceresa. Even when I was drained from back to back Zoom calls, my Ceresa mentor hours always energized me. There is a sense of collaboration and positivity that makes me feel like we can make a difference together.
Q: To what do you attribute your success?
A: I attribute my success to a few key factors: my support system, a growth mindset, and the drive to not settle. Having a supportive network is hugely important. My family has been extremely supportive and has given me all the opportunities that I could ask for when it comes to education and trying out new things.
I also attribute my success to my growth mindset. This concept was created by Dr. Carol Dweck, Ph.D. who defines a growth mindset as the idea that you are always growing and that you don't have a fixed set of traits or characteristics or talents. How exciting is it to know that you can always grow and improve in whatever you set out to do.
I also think committing to never settling is a big driver for me. I have one life to live and why am I going to settle for a professional experience or personal relationship that isn’t working for me. There’s been a lot of experimentation with this but it’s helped me to land where I am today.
Lastly, it would be a shame for me not to recognize that as a white woman, I have privilege that has given me opportunities that my fellow women of color have not received. I am reminded of this often and try to serve as an ally and advocate for equality and equity.
Q: What does good mentoring look like to you?
A: Good mentoring is being able to see and understand the whole person from a 360 view, beyond the one-dimensional career lens. Also, in a formal mentoring relationship it’s important to have clear goals and outcomes. I think creating a safe place for someone to really share what their challenges are and ways they’d like to improve makes all the difference.
Q: What advice would you give to someone interested in mentoring?
A: My advice is to dedicate time to it. You will receive a lot more than what you’re giving. It doesn't take a whole lot to mentor someone who is significantly younger and earlier in their journey. I always think back to my 23-year-old self and if I had one woman carve out 30 minutes a month for me to talk about where I'm going in my professional and personal life, that would have been hugely impactful.
Q: How has mentoring impacted your own journey?
A: After eight year of for-profit experience, I decided to transition into the nonprofit world with the intention of having more meaning in my professional life. Even though I had been looking for mentors, I didn’t find any during my first eight years of my career. In fact, I learned more about what NOT to do from leaders and managers than what to do. The first Executive Director I worked with became the biggest mentor in my life to date. She had a growth mindset and admitted when she didn’t know something. She was extremely human, soft-spoken, and led democratically. She always asked others for their opinions and weighed them before making a decision. It was an awakening for me because she exhibited the opposite traits of what I thought a really strong leader should have. Working with her made all the difference in my growth as a professional and it positively influenced my current role as Executive Director and CEO of Women@Austin.
Q: Why do you choose to mentor with Ceresa?
A: I chose to mentor with Ceresa because I was inspired by Anna Robinson, CEO of Ceresa, and her mission. The structure and support built into the program helped me to have quality conversations with my mentee. I would have loved this when I was younger and I still would, frankly! I used to think my mentors should be at the same company, but in reality, opening up your whole world to wonderful women and men to mentor you is such a fantastic opportunity.
Mentorship: integral to the Ceresa whole-person approach
At Ceresa, mentorship is an integral part of our leadership development process. The mentor-mentee relationship is a key component in providing the structure, and at the same time fluidity, necessary to facilitate pointed leadership and career growth for both the participant and the mentor.