Interview with Jill Sady for MHC Class of 2002 Website
I spent a lovely morning catching up with our classmate Jill Sady as she sat in a mechanic’s shop, waiting for her snow tires to be removed. We reconnected over parenting, doing work you love, finding purpose, valuing friendship, and how volunteering helps to connect us to our community.
Jill works remote (and loves it). She’s the Vice President and Chief of Staff at CIEE, where she’s been for 15 years! CIEE is a nonprofit organization founded in 1947 that runs student exchange programs all over the world. Jill sees a direct connection between her MHC major in anthropology and her work, noting it “feels like the job I was made for.” Although Jill isn’t student-facing in her current role, she loves the bird’s eye view, managing strategic operations, supporting the president, staff and board of directors, and working in the education space. She loves the participant stories of growth, bridging differences, overcoming fears, and human connection. In describing her job, she says, “It’s a cup-filler of a job.” We should all be so fortunate!
Jill lives on a small island in Maine surrounded by wonderful neighbors and lots of woods and trails, about an hour and a half from where she grew up. She has three busy kiddos (7, 10, and 11) and a dog named Roz. We commiserated over the reality of being a “parent taxi,” but both secretly copped to valuing the time we spend shepherding our kids to their activities and schools. Turns out that driving kids around helps get them talking about their day. Her oldest is nearing teenagehood, and Jill is looking forward to the teenage years with added independence and a sense of them discovering who they are. “I love the idea of giving your kids the space to be themselves and supporting who they actually want to be in the world.”
Jill finds great joy, support, and inspiration from her group of friends (both near and far). She described her absolute pleasure in volunteering and giving back - not with one specific organization, per se - but in the way she connects with her community to check in on people, brighten someone’s day, and make life a little easier, a little less cruel, a little more joyful. She’s creating the community she wants for herself and her children. It sounds pretty fantastic.
Submitted by Sarah Cumbie Reckess
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