There are two threads that weave together the many experiences of Bloomfield Township\u2019s first female mayor, Jenny Mundell \u201911 MA: community and storytelling.<\/p>\n
As a high school student, she wrote for a local newspaper in Sewickley, PA. There, she wrote features on zoning meetings and other local government meetings. \u201cI knew the importance of being involved and paying attention to what happens locally,\u201d she says. After high school, she received her bachelor\u2019s in English language and literature from Pennsylvania State University, and eventually moved to New Jersey.<\/p>\n
After moving to New Jersey, Mundell became the associate director of University and Community Relations at Montclair State University. Taking advantage of the tuition benefit offered to employees, she worked full-time while earning her master\u2019s in English. Her thesis, Burning Down the House: Reclaiming Homeplace in Gloria Naylor\u2019s Linden Hills and Mama Day,<\/em> examined the influence of geographic places and power structures on the development of individuals and communities.<\/p>\n Her education at Montclair gave her the abilities to become a critical thinker and thoughtful communicator. \u201cHumans understand the world in narratives,\u201d she explains. \u201cSo that has helped me along the way, to be able to synthesize what I hear from other people and then turn that back to them to find solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n She used these skills to build a career in relationship building. After working in higher education, Mundell transitioned to the healthcare industry. Mundell advanced at RWJBarnabas Health and is now vice president of development for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.<\/p>\n While growing a career as a development professional, Mundell held community leadership roles in Bloomfield Township. In 2017, she was appointed to the Township Council. The mayor at the time asked her if she would consider running to be the 1st Ward councilwoman. \u201cI gave it some thought, talked to my husband, and it felt like a good thing to do,\u201d she recollects. \u201cMy predecessor at the time stepped down from his seat early, so I was appointed to fill his vacancy.\u201d<\/p>\n When the former mayor decided to run for State Assembly, he asked Mundell if she would consider running for the post. \u201cWe had made all this progress together,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd I know for him, it was really important to leave it in good hands\u2026somebody that would keep that momentum moving. And so he asked me to consider running [for mayor]. And again, I went back to my husband,\u201d she says with a chuckle. \u201cWe had the conversation, talked about what that would mean for us and decided that, yes, it was something that I was interested in, because I think I was the best choice to continue to move things forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Mundell won the election this past November, but doesn\u2019t see her gender as the main story. \u201cI\u2019m not here because I\u2019m a woman, but that I am a woman could inspire someone else to try something that they didn\u2019t feel like they fit in the space for,\u201d she says. In her short time as mayor, she recruited more than 70 dedicated volunteers to serve on committees in town and created new committees to increase community involvement, demolished the town\u2019s old DPW building (a 20-year eyesore), facilitated repairs to the roof of the adult library, creatively financed the renovations to the township\u2019s much beloved children\u2019s library without the township taking on new debt and launched senior programming for retired community members.<\/p>\n When contemplating how her time as an English graduate student at Montclair has prepared her for roles in development and as mayor, she emphasizes the transferable skills learned. \u201cEducation prepares you for anything,\u201d she reflects. \u201cEnglish majors will save the world \u2013 our minds are open to different things.\u201d<\/p>\n For current students, Mundell advises to explore and seize opportunities for growth. \u201cTake advantage of all of it. You\u2019ll never have another time in your life where you will explore and learn things at the pace you want,\u201d she urges. Her career trajectory evolved because of her willingness to try new things. \u201cTake every opportunity that presents itself,\u201d she says. \u201cI worked at Montclair and had the opportunity to further my education, so I took that. I was approached for the town council, I said yes. I was approached to run for mayor, I said yes.\u201d<\/p>\n Since graduating, Mundell has stayed connected to Montclair as a guest speaker, neighbor and recently, as a member of the President\u2019s Advisory Board for the Bloomfield College integration. She enjoys speaking to students about how an education from Montclair prepares a student for anything. \u201cI have a graduate degree in English, but I don\u2019t teach, I work in health care. You can study literature, you can study liberal arts, and you could become a mayor.\u201d<\/p>\n She encourages students of any background or major to think about careers in public service and get involved in their local communities. Mundell suggests reaching out to local elected officials to build relationships and attending town meetings and events. By being present, students can get inspired to see how they might contribute, and how they can create their own story.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always believed that you have the power to make change where you live.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From English graduate student to Bloomfield Township\u2019s first female mayor, Jenny Mundell \u201911 MA proves that the power to create meaningful change starts with the opportunities you embrace and the relationships you build along the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":212635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-stories","category-57_english-department","category-7_homepage-news-and-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/chss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/chss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/chss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/chss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/chss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212633"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/chss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212634,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/chss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212633\/revisions\/212634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/chss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/chss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/chss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/chss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}