The Possible Zone Appoints Jody Cornish as New Chief Strategy and Advancement Officer

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Possible Zone (TPZ), a youth entrepreneurship program with a mission to advance economic equity, today announced the appointment of Jody Cornish as Chief Strategy and Advancement Officer, effective February 1, 2022.

“We are delighted to welcome Jody to TPZ,” said Becky Levin, Executive Director of The Possible Zone. “With her significant experience in nonprofit leadership and a lifelong passion for championing young people, she will help lead TPZ into its next phase of innovation in Boston and beyond.”

Jody joins TPZ at a critical time of growth as the organization prepares to launch its new, 36,000 square-foot innovation center at 31 Heath Street in Boston’s Jackson Square neighborhood. The first-of-its-kind space supports a significant program expansion to equip young people with the mindsets, skills, and professional networks necessary to thrive in post-secondary career paths while allowing the organization to grow enrollment to over 1,000 students annually by 2025. The innovation center will also serve as the hub for TPZ’s ecosystem model, with coworking and office space for social service, education, health, and business development partners, incubator labs for local entrepreneurs, and community space for workshops and forums. In addition, tenants will help TPZ’s students and families in many ways, from co-developing programming and offering services to providing internships and career opportunities.

An Experienced Leader

With over 20 years of experience in strategy, organizational development, social impact investment, and nonprofit leadership, Jody previously worked at City Year, Inc. as Senior Vice President of Alignment, Innovation and Investment. In this role, she partnered with the CEO and executive team to outline City Year’s future-facing strategy, leading foundation and high net worth individual fundraising. Jody also assisted City Year’s thought leadership contributions to the national dialogue about the future of both national service and K-12 education.

Jody began her career as a strategy consultant at Monitor Group (now Monitor-Deloitte) and Trium Group in New York City. In 2008, she co-founded a boutique consulting firm focused on leveraging insights from for-profit consulting and market research to drive cross-sector international development efforts in West Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Arabic states. More recently, Jody worked for New Profit, Inc. – a Boston-based venture philanthropy firm where she first served as a Partner growing high potential nonprofit organizations. She later led their Reimagine Learning Initiative, focused on driving innovation in K-12 education through a network-based approach that engaged more than 1,000 innovative nonprofits, policy-makers, and researchers.

Jody serves on the Board of Trustees of many organizations, including Next Generation Learning Challenges, Big Picture Learning, and YouthBuild International.

Cornish added, “TPZ is an inspirational and innovative organization, committed to economic equity for all young people. I’m excited to join the organization as it expands in Boston and look forward to identifying opportunities to scale our work in other communities across the country.”

About The Possible Zone

The Possible Zone’s (TPZ) mission is to advance economic equity by ensuring young people develop the entrepreneurial spirit, skills, and networks to launch successful careers. Based in Boston, TPZ offers high school students a year-round, multi-year entrepreneurship program that includes project-based curriculum, STEAM education, hands-on work experience, and individualized college and career advising.

TPZ’s young entrepreneurs launch their own companies, learn design and advanced manufacturing, intern with local companies, and map their postsecondary goals and plans. In the process, they develop career readiness, social-emotional, and technical skills, and strengthen their professional identity, preparing them to succeed in any future path they choose.