On the first Tuesday of every month, we’ll announce a new Fearless Female, including a video interview of them sharing their business story. Want to be featured as a Fearless Female?
Contact Memberships at memberships@greaterkwchamber.com for more details. The Fearless Female Program would not be possible without our Title Sponsor, Scotiabank.
To learn a little more about the Scotiabank Women Initiative, and why they’ve chosen to sponsor this program, see the video below.
The Fearless Female we’re featuring for the month of July is Jennifer Scott, Chief Executive Officer of House of Friendship.
For over 20 years, Jennifer has worked in the charitable and not-for-profit sector, with a strong focus on housing, community programs, and organizational leadership. Her career has centered on strengthening services for people experiencing vulnerability and building strong partnerships across the community.
Jennifer is the Chief Executive Officer of House of Friendship. In this role, she provides strategic leadership across housing, addictions, food programs, and community services. She brings a strong systems perspective, deep operational experience, and a steady, people-focused approach to leadership. Her work emphasizes service quality, organizational stability, and collaboration across the health and social services system.
Jennifer holds a BA from McMaster University and an MBA from Brock University. She lives in Guelph with her husband and two daughters.
To learn more about Jennifer’s journey as a Fearless Female, watch the interview below (or read the written format).
Tell us more about your role and House of Friendship.
My name is Jennifer Scott, I’m the CEO at House of Friendship. So I’ve been with House of Friendship for eight years, I’ve moved throughout many different roles in the organization, but I’m new into this role as of the last six months. So House of Friendship is a not-for-profit charitable organization that operates here in Waterloo Region. We support people who need food, housing, community resources, and addiction treatment. Each year we support about 42,000 individuals and families to access the resources they need to thrive. So my role is CEO, so I lead this organization alongside a team of amazing folks.
How did you end up choosing this career path?
I grew up in a small town, a small farming community, it was a Christian community, and I learned from a young age that you help one another when you can, and you support and you step up for your neighbours in need. So that has always been ingrained in me, in doing good and loving others. When I was a teenager I worked in long-term care, so I supported many seniors who called the long-term care home their home. And what I learned in that space is that I can have a great impact in someone’s life just by showing up with a smile and showing up with intention. And I loved the feeling of getting to know the seniors, getting to know a little bit more about their story, the relationship building and the connection that happened in those moments. So I believe it was that experience that really showed me I need to have an impact in my work and I need to do something that is doing good for the community, connection, all of those things.
Tell us more about your educational background.
I went to university, I worked for many years, and eight years ago I joined the House of Friendship and instantly saw the impact that we were having in the community and really felt like this was a place where I could grow and develop and do great work. So I studied gerontology at McMaster University, definitely connected to the seniors and those that I was supporting in long-term care. And then I moved into volunteer management, supporting a
program for seniors. It was in that work and that work in not-for-profit that I started to get more interested in leadership and not-for-profit leadership. So I did my MBA over many, many years. I did it part-time as I was working and raising a young family. And that really helped me to understand a little bit more about not-for-profit leadership and really bringing my heart and a great business approach to this work. It was when I joined House of Friendship that I really started to feel a strong connection to trying different things, stepping outside of my comfort zone. The internal commitment that we have here for one another at House of Friendship is that everyone who serves here supports one another to grow and develop. And I saw that so strongly with those that I was working with and those that were working with me. And, I mean, it’s the reason that I stayed at House of Friendship for eight years, and it’s something that I really am excited about as we, as an organization, grow and develop into the coming years.
What are some of your career highlights so far?
First and foremost, I mean, completing my MBA. So I started my MBA when my child, my first child, was six months old. It was a great way to get out of the house once a week, but I did it very part-time while I was raising kids. And having my kids at my graduation ceremony when they were six and four was pretty meaningful and pretty special. And, you know, we have a cute picture of the three of us behind one of the signs. It says, started strong, ended stronger. And I think it just really resonated, those words really resonated to me in that, you know, I was strong when I started my MBA, and really the learning and the growth that happened through that time was really impactful. Stepping into the housing director role at House of Friendship was another big step for me. So that was about two and a half years ago that I moved from the admin team into the housing director role. And I remember at the time not feeling like I was ready for the role, feeling like I wasn’t going to be able to be strong in the position. But again, I was encouraged and supported, and I’m really proud of the work that I did within that space. It was a hard portfolio, it was a big portfolio, but I got a lot of reward through it. And I’m really proud of the work that we did within our housing portfolio.
Was it difficult transitioning into your role?
I think it was a little bit of unknown in that I was new into the housing space, and I thought, you know, I don’t know that much about housing. But at the end of the day, it really, sometimes it takes a different perspective to be able to see a solution at the end, and I think that’s what I was able to offer, is a different perspective on housing and homelessness. It’s also just such a big and visible need in our community. You can’t drive downtown without seeing many folks who are experiencing homelessness and or quite vulnerable, so it feels like a big challenge. It felt like a big challenge that I was like, I don’t know that I, what can I do, what can I support here? But the way in which I was able to see through that is that House of Friendship has its laneway, and that really is shelter, specifically a health-integrated shelter, and supporting the healthcare needs of those that we’re serving, and really doubling down on just what we’re really good at and what is within our control. We’ve done many innovative things within our housing space, and it’s just been really rewarding to be part of that.
What have been some of your challenges so far?
Being able to maintain balance. So balance is super important in my life, my values. I need to be able to show up fully present for my young family,
and that’s been a challenge. However, it’s something that I’ve really focused on. It’s something that I put intentional effort towards in being fully present at work and then being fully present with my kids at home. I just so value the flexibility that I’m able to create in my role so that I can be present. How I would say that I don’t think I would do anything differently in my career, in my career journey, mostly because the way in which I have thought about my career and thought about my journey has always been values-led, and I’ve done things at the time that was right for me and my family. So I’ve taken a step forward at times, I’ve taken steps back at times, and it’s always been with values leading that decision. So I would say for others, I think I see a lot of young folks nowadays who are doing things because it is the traditional path, right? Like four years in university and then work, or four years in university and then more school and then more school. But I think it’s important to think and pause, and what is it that’s really right for you.
Learn more about House of Friendship – https://houseoffriendship.org
