Meet Jenny
Jenny Paperno
Former Mentor & current Mentee Recruiting Team Co-Lead
Meet our volunteer, Jenny Paperno! For the past four years, Jenny has contributed tirelessly to Minds Matter Bay Area's mission of helping high-achieving, low-income students pursue the colleges of their dreams. For three, she was a mentor, spending her Saturdays fostering meaningful relationships with students beginning from their sophomore year of high school. After her mentee graduated, Jenny joined the Mentee Recruiting team, which is responsible for attracting and selecting new mentees that will continue to benefit from the various resources and programs provided by volunteers at Minds Matter Bay Area.
What inspired you to become a volunteer?
As an immigrant, I was lucky enough to attend a magnet high school in New York that had incredible resources to help me navigate the labyrinth of college admissions and also equipped me with the tools to succeed once there.
However, I acknowledge that not all students have these same opportunities. I initially joined Minds Matter Bay Area because I am passionate about their mission to reduce educational inequality. While my passion and drive to make an impact certainly has not changed, I've continued to work with Minds Matter Bay Area because of the amazing community of volunteers and mentees that are the heart and soul of the organization!
How have you benefited personally from your experience at Minds Matter Bay Area?
I joined as a Mentor in 2019. A few months later, SF had announced the 1st round of lockdowns in response to Covid-19. The speed with which the Minds Matter Bay Area community came together and pivoted to operate in a virtual world while adjusting the curriculum to address the topics that were top of mind for our students was an awe-inspiring display of resilience and flexibility. Covid-19 was a highly uncertain time for everyone and while I had initially joined to share what I had learned throughout my high school, college and professional journeys with my mentee, I found myself learning just as much from my mentee's ability to remain positive during hard times!