Meet Jen Fisher
Jen (she/her) is a connector, an organizer, a creator, an asker of big questions, and occasional rabble-rouser who cares deeply about kids and, as a mother of two herself, knows first hand the struggles of raising them well in our world today.
In April 2021, after the birth of their second son and in the midst of a pandemic, Jen, her husband Bobby and their two boys, worn-down, exhausted, and longing for community themselves, moved to Cincinnati to be closer to family. Jen had just earned her Master of Divinity degree from a progressive Christian seminary, and had recently co-founded Launchpad Partners, a fully LGBTQ+ affirming nonprofit that supports leaders starting new kinds of faith communities. As she was settling into the Pleasant Ridge neighborhood, Jen began to explore the idea of starting a church herself.
But a conversation with a single mom, the realtor who’d helped them buy their first home, changed everything.
Jen and the realtor had developed a friendship and they were having dinner together one night when it all spilled out. The woman told Jen about how her kid had said something racist and she didn't know how to respond. And it all kept pouring out from there - the struggle to raise kids well, body, mind and spirit, kids who have good relationships with others across all kinds of cultures and backgrounds. Kids who aren’t going to be lonely…or assholes.
It was from that conversation and others like them over the next several months, with parents and caregivers confessing fears about answering kids’ questions about God or racism or gender, parents admitting their feelings of isolation and inadequacy and not knowing how to nurture their own spirits, much less their kids’, that led Jen to start imagining something different. Something for herself and for the parents and caregivers around her:
Folks who can only meet up on the playground and plan around nap hours.
Families who can only do events in that golden window of 3-7 pm on the weekends.
People who only catch up on phone messages after their kids’ bedtime.
Spiritual seekers who are not going to walk through the doors of a church or synagogue or mosque because they’ve been burned.
All of them, people who want a real community, one that helps their kids and them - connect with their own deepest selves, with others, with nature and with God, however they name or experience God.
That’s why Imagine Cincinnati was born.
It was through countless conversations on the playground, at school pickup, and everywhere in between that a team of passionate parents - educators, therapists, community builders of all shapes and sizes - began to imagine the spaces they longed for, for themselves and their kids.
Meet the team helping Imagine Cincinnati grow: (Photos and bios coming soon!)
Jen Fisher - Founding Executive Director, “Care-Free Fridays” Leader
Tyler Chernesky - Grantwriter and Financial Director
Brittany Rhoade - "Care-Free Thursdays" Co-Leader (Oakley)
Denisha Brazzle - Family Playgroup & Events Co-Leader (all locations)
Kim Winter Panther - Yoga Teacher, RYT-200