Reach High: Stories of Leadership | Jenna Mitchell Beckett
Brought to you by High Foundation, this series introduces you to business and nonprofit leaders who are thoughtfully innovating with a spirit of servant leadership.
Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
That is the quote by Howard Thurman hanging above Jenna Mitchell Beckett’s desk at the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s Pennsylvania office. As Jenna reflects on her journey to becoming the Pennsylvania State Director and Agriculture Program Director at the Alliance, the idea of coming alive in your work is certainly a thread she recognizes in her story.
A lifelong Lancastrian, Jenna remembers growing up playing with bugs and running around her grandmother’s garden. But when it came time to choose a major for college, she originally went to Washington DC for international relations. She quickly realized that wasn’t where her passions lived, and she transferred to Penn State’s Environmental Resource Management.
“The outdoors have always been a place of peace for me, and as soon as I started that program, I knew this was where I wanted to be,” Jenna said. “Then I got to intern with the Director of Agriculture, and I found the world of watersheds.”
After graduating, Jenna returned to Lancaster where she began working at the Lancaster County Conservation District as an erosion and sedimentation technician.
“I was kind of like a dirt cop—making sure soil disturbances were being managed properly at construction sites,” she explained. “I learned how the local level of regulation protects the environment, and as a young female in a male-majority field, it really helped foster my confidence.”
“I had some incredible mentors who encouraged me to pursue these big ideas I had.”
– Jenna Mitchell Beckett
Jenna knew after a few years there that she wanted to turn her attention to conservation instead of compliance, and she joined the Alliance as a project manager. Shortly after, at just 24 years old, the Pennsylvania Director left, and Jenna decided to put her hat in the ring.
Over the past decade in leadership, Jenna has led the charge on securing grant funding to start an agriculture program, fostered relationships between local farmers and large corporations, and moved the Pennsylvania headquarters from Camp Hill to Lancaster.
“It’s been special for me as a born and raised Lancastrian to see our team and our impact grow over the years,” she said. “Many of the ideas we implement across the Chesapeake Bay watershed start in Lancaster because our community and our landscape is so unique.”
As for her leadership style, Jenna embraces collaboration and clarity for her team—inspiring them to build programming around their individual passions so they too come alive in their everyday work.
Learn more about the work of the Alliance at allianceforthebay.org.
Reach High is a series brought to you by High Foundation that introduces you to business and nonprofit leaders who are thoughtfully innovating with a spirit of servant leadership. Find out more about High Foundation’s mission to be a Bridge to Opportunity for the Lancaster community at highfoundation.org.
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