Our goal is to provide a space that will give our women, our community, tools to care for the whole self.
ABOUT US
Hermpowered (pronounced: Her-Empowered) is a 501c3 organization dedicated to supporting women and girls by providing health and legal education to the community. Many women in our community are inundated with health and legal issues and find themselves deciding to care for one issue over the other. Their legal issues start to fall through the cracks. Scary diagnoses rear their ugly heads and they are unable to cope or are not connected with healthcare for treatment.
WE WANT TO CHANGE THIS
Policies from our government make it difficult for low-income families or immigrants to get the proper care they need. Families are in danger of falling apart because of issues they cannot control. We want to change this. Our goal is to provide a space that will give our women, our community, tools to care for the whole self. Our focus is to:
- Provide education that assist in eliminating healthcare disparities;
- Strive to provide legal education and direct women to assistance in the community that will aid to eliminate these issues that stand in the way of whole health;
- Create a space that will allow women to become who they want to be for their families;
- Host events that focus on important causes that affect the community. These include toy drives, fundraisers where a percentage of the proceeds go to an organization, and drives that support issues such as homelessness; and
- Host panels and workshops that serve as educational tools for our community. These will range from healthcare, immigration, housing, healthy families, tools for entrepreneurship, and more.
JENNIFER B. CEDOR, ESQ.
The work Jennifer has done, prior to and after law school, inspired the birth of Hermpowered. With help from the community and passion to eliminate these disparities, she hopes to make an impact in the lives of the most destitute.
MEET OUR FOUNDER
Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Jennifer has settled in Boston and made it her mission to make a difference in her community. Jennifer started by working to increase diversity in the Boston legal community while working at the Boston Bar Association. She then ventured off to YWCA Boston, where the mission was to eliminate racism and empower women. As a community health educator at YWCA Boston, Jennifer provided culturally sensitive and evidence-based education to a group of women who suffered from health disparities because of race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Jennifer made huge impacts in the lives of the women she worked with. Shortly prior to law school, she worked to empower women as a Patient Navigator and Research Assistant to women in the Women’s Health Unit at Boston Medical Center. The women sought her assistance with many legal barriers that kept them from receiving adequate health care. Without hesitation, Jennifer helped in the quest to eliminate these barriers.
Jennifer received her Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School (“SULS”). At SULS, Jennifer was a member of the Health and Biomedical Law Journal as a Symposium Editor and Vice President of the Health and Biomedical Law Society. Jennifer also earned a Bachelor of Art in Communication and Culture and from Clark University in 2007, graduating cum laude. The following year, she received her Master of Science, also at Clark University, in Communication with a concentration in Marketing. Jennifer graduated with high honors and was inducted into Alpha Epsilon Lambda—an honor society for Graduate Students. In 2010 to build her background in public health and education, Jennifer completed training at the Boston Public Health Commission’s Community Health Education Center, where she became a certified Community Health Educator.
Jennifer works at the MA Trial Court’s Court Service Center as a Staff Attorney- providing access to justice to self-represented litigants. In this capacity she ensures they are able to navigate the judicial system in Domestic Relations and Housing Matters.
Administrative Director
Keyana Pennant
Keyana is a born and raised Bostonian. Since childhood she has had a passion for science which led her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in biology at Virginia Union University. After completing her studies in 2007 she returned home and has been working in Healthcare ever since.
Keyana has a research background and began her career as a Research Technician in Sleep Medicine working in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Center for Clinical Investigation for 4 years. She then transitioned to another position within the hospital, devoting 5 years as project coordinator for the Department of Medicine Quality Program. During this time serving 13 clinical specialties with varied patient populations her true passion was realized and her interest in care gaps and specifically how to engage patients and care teams in a unified vision of “quality care” was ignited.
She has built her career on analyzing, supporting and promoting patient-centered care and currently works as a Pediatric Population Health Coordinator at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Financial Director
Esther Boussicot
Born and raised in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Esther Boussicot grew up in a Christian Haitian household that valued the importance of spirituality, hard-work and respect. Her mission is to continually be recognized as an efficient leader, with strong work ethics, integrity and capability to persevere under pressure. Deeply rooted in her culture, she attributes that to her passion in helping within her community. She prides herself in giving back to the community that has helped to foster and nurture her intellectually
Esther believes that physical and mental health are both equally important when working with individuals and families. For this reason, she is a strong advocate of black mental health specifically targeting the Haitian community of Boston. Although Esther understands the importance of hard work and excelled within her course of studies, through her own personal journey what has been reinforced is the importance of mental health and how this can impact a person’s quality of life.
Esther’s passion for providing counseling to individuals can be attributed to her years of working with different non-profit organizations throughout the city of Boston. Esther uses a strength-based approach when working with clients and families. Her interpersonal skills have been sharpened by supporting students and families with mental health issues. Currently, Esther works as a school-based clinician for a non-profit organization in Boston, Massachusetts. She provides individual counseling to students in the city of Boston. These experiences have provided her much insight into the role that she has become professionally and personally connected to. Esther understands the disparities that people of color face due to systemic racism, socioeconomic class, community violence, immigration and lack of access to basic needs. It is her belief that if people of color are given the space to talk about their own mental health, stress and relationships in a positive environment, collectively the individual, families, and community will benefit, strive and prosper.
Esther received her education at Wheelock College with a Master of Social Work. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Regis College. Looking forward, Esther understands that remaining connected within a strong network will benefit her growth.