Jackie Keogh, a seasoned professional in the realm of community development and affordable housing, is leading the way to expand Central Oregon’s supply of truly affordable housing options as Executive Director at RootedHomes. We interviewed Jackie to gain her critical insights and perspective as a leader in a career field that remains predominantly male. Thank you, Jackie, for sharing your experiences and inspiration with all of us!
Q&A with Jackie
During college I started working as an intern at a community development corporation north of Boston. Prior to my internship, I never even knew that affordable housing finance was a field that existed, much less a field for women. I was lucky enough to have mentors who helped me to find my way in this industry. The affordable housing field hooked me because it brings together so many siloed industries – nonprofit, construction, and client services.
As a woman under 40, it is daunting to walk into a room that is predominantly male and much older. As many of us who face sexism – or other systems of oppression like racism, ableism or homophobia – I felt like I needed to be the expert to overcome my imposter syndrome in order to be taken seriously. I hoped that once I was viewed as an expert on the topic, then it wouldn’t matter who I was because my confidence and ability to use that information to solve problems would help me grow in the industry. There are moments in life where good relationships and mentors made all the difference, and I attribute that to several women whose shoulders I stood on to achieve what I have today. There is also in my experience a motivation to prove naysayers wrong, and I have learned to use that momentum to move myself forward.
Being a woman leader in this industry in Central Oregon is quite challenging. It takes a lot of emotional capacity to do the work while also fighting internalized, blatant, and subtle sexism. At times, I find myself exhausted by it. But I — alongside several women on our staff, board, and consultants— am working to change that so that my daughter and the next generation of women do not have to bear the burden of sexism that exists not just in this industry, but many parts of the workforce still today. By pushing against that, RootedHomes has demonstrated that achievement can be made without an outdated power structure. This ties in directly to our core value of equitable access, which seeks to prioritize those homeowners who have been most excluded from the opportunity to build wealth through homeownership.
Being the change that you want to see is not just about gender representation but is really about innovation. Great ideas get left behind when we don’t challenge power structures. Presenting a new way of doing things can be daunting, but it is worth it, and I have seen that the results speak for themselves at RootedHomes.
I think a lot of the fields in which women or People of Color are underrepresented have a strong narrative about those folks not being attracted to the industry. In truth, those folks have likely been excluded or faced systemic barriers from entering those industries. For example, Minority, Women-owned and emerging small business subcontractors are significantly underrepresented in Central Oregon due to systematic barriers in the development and construction industry. RootedHomes and our partners are developing a program that aims to raise up these subcontractors in the construction of our communities.
For example, I started the industry as an unpaid intern. These types of entryways into industries have historically excluded many from having an opportunity to participate in them. And pay inequity remains a serious barrier, where women’s average pay is 84 cents on the dollar and Black women’s pay is 67 cents on the dollar compared to white men.
(See “Black Women’s Equal Pay Day: Black Women With Doctorates Lose $2.1 Million In Wages” at Forbes.com)
Be your own biggest advocate. Advocate within yourself that you deserve what you have worked for. As women, we can be our biggest critics and we need to be our biggest advocates in fighting for our career pathway.
At the same time, I want to challenge the perception that women need to be perfect to have it all. We deserve space to try, fail, learn, and grow. I personally tend to overanalyze and weigh myself down from my past mistakes. It’s part of the mental burden that we need to free ourselves from.
Some of my best mentors have been white males. Those closest to power have a responsibility to pull people who are further away from power towards that power. I thank the people who have mentored me, given me the space, and stood up for me. It has been so helpful to my success and without them I would not be where I am, which is ironic. At RootedHomes, we aim to dismantle some of these systemic barriers for our staff and clients that lock women out of this industry and homeownership. We are proud that 76% of our households are women-led.
Visit http://rootedhomes.org to learn more about Jackie and Rooted Homes.
O’Brien is thrilled to be working along with Jackie and her team at Rooted at Simpson, which will bring 99 units of affordable housing to Bend, including 40 single-family homes.