Check Out Jasiri Jenkins-Glenn’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasiri Jenkins-Glenn.

Hi Jasiri, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Pasadena Media was found in December 1983 when the state began to require cable companies to provide public access to media to the community. Falcon Cable were connected with a few notable community people who were teaching youth how to use camera’s and the Pasadena Community Access Corporation was birthed. We became Pasadena Media in 2010.

Pasadena Media programs four public access channels: two are Public Education Channels (KLRN and PCCTV) – which we program but do not create content for, one is the government access channel (KPAS) -which the Pasadena Media production team creates original content for and livestreams Pasadena City Council meetings, Altadena Town Hall meetings, and all City of Pasadena Ancillary meetings for the public to view, and one is the Community Access channel (The Arroyo Channel) – which is the community voice (for the people and by the people). The content on The Arroyo Channel is produced by Pasadena Media Producer members with the support of Pasadena Media Volunteer Members who are all trained through our free monthly classes teaching basic production skills from development to post-production.

Specific to me: I started in public access in 2015 in Santa Cruz, CA as a volunteer and a sitting member on their Volunteer Activities Commission. When I moved back home to Pasadena in 2019, a friend posted on her IG that she was going to have an interview at Pasadena Media – I had never realized Pasadena had a public access station. From that post, I visited Pasadena Media, took an orientation class, became a volunteer member and later a Community Producer. In 2019 and 2022, I produced 10 episodes of Jasiriously Speaking – a Charlie Rose interview style show with a play on my name which means to be Audaciously Fearless – where I interview individuals who are fearlessly pursuing their purpose.

At the end of 2022, I saw a posting for the position of Director of Community Engagement and felt that with my background in Program Management, my love for the city that raised me, and my understanding of the Pasadena Member program as it stood I could make an impact, so I applied. I was not the first choice, but I knew the job was mine. So when things didn’t work out with their first choice and they called me back asking if I was still interested, I was glad to say yes. I just celebrated two years with Pasadena Media.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
When you’re working in purpose, everything is smooth even when chaotic. Change always presents struggles.

I came into the position needing to make some important changes to the programming and a lot of members and existing staff experienced trouble with these changes when they were implement. This was my first time losing a team member and that was a difficult experience of taking into to account what I could have done better while also acknowledging that some things are out of my control. BUT everything happens for a reason.

I was able to hire a fantastic new person who was the missing piece to our team and once trained, our team, although small, was able to accomplish large feats and create powerful content.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am the Director of Community Engagement at Pasadena Media. Because of the variety of industries that I have worked in (Diamonds & Jewelry, Transportation, Sports Entertainment, Media, etc), I like to think of myself as an Interdisciplinary Program Manager. I am known for bringing order to programs lacking efficiency – ones that need a little patchwork on the few existing holes – and for reenergizing a teams motivation and focus and bringing synergy to disconnected interdepartmental functions.

At Pasadena Media, I am most proud of the increased programming and organizing that has been accomplished since my coming on board. We have been able to create evergreen internship programs for the youth in our community and the program has grown from year-to-year – we currently have partnerships with Occidental College, Pasadena City College (PCC), Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD), ReDesign Learning serving individuals with disabilities, and the Department of Labor serving older adults. Additionally, our membership has expressed gratitude and satisfaction with the way we have formalized the training and producing systems. Our producer program is now setup to support quality over quantity and so more people are able to produce and be proud of what they create.

Additionally, the Community Engagement team has developed some standout productions such as Access For All: Integrating Accessibility which focuses on normalizing accessibility in our daily lives, The Arroyo Now show which is in the process of finishing up a powerful series on the Eaton Fire (episode 1 is out – episode 2 coming soon), and Non-Profit Spotlight which is a show that highlights the numerous nonprofits in town and focuses on their origin story and how the community can get involved with their individual missions.

Personally, I am most proud of being able to navigate a Director position as a single mom without a Bachelor’s Degree. I am 5 classes away from attaining my BA at SJSU and not having a degree makes it really difficult for people to see what I bring by looking at me on paper. Funny enough, when people see me work, they never guess that I don’t have the degree. So it brings me pride to show that when given the chance, people with unorthodox educational history can execute in a very real, impactful, and effective way.

My faith sets me apart from others. I am not just a believer, I am a follower of The Way. It is not enough for me to say I have faith, I work daily to put on the character of someone who has faith. This often includes apologizing when I don’t want to, taking accountability, being kind when I don’t feel like it, walking in truth, honesty, and integrity when no one is watching or acknowledging. It feels thankless sometimes, but because putting on the character of Christ is not what I do for others, I am able to recognize the unseen and unspoken moments of gratitude that occur when no one else is paying attention and those moments make my faith walk a priceless part of the journey.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
My relationship with Jesus Christ matters most to me. This relationship keeps me honest, kind, patient, faithful, and humble. Without it, I would not be able to serve others, especially the difficult ones, with a level of care that does not take account of the injury.

My relationship with Him roots my identity and I am able to show up for my family and my team with compassion allowing my actions to let those who rely on me that I can be trusted. I serve first, like my LORD, and this solidifies me as a trustworthy leader.

Pricing:

• $90/6-months for resident producer membership – allows someone to produce using all 4 of our producer pathways (main studio, podcast studio, voice over booth, and field camera kits)
• $90/6-months for non-resident producer membership
• Free limited resident producer memebership – this membership allows someone to submit the content that they create with their own equipment and facilities to be played on The Arroyo Channel
• $50/6-months for non-resident limited producer membership
• PRO Services (commercial and non-commercial) are available to persons interested in creating monetized content (the content created under our producer memberships require an agreement of non-monetization since we area non-profit providing a public service to the City of Pasadena.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pasadenamedia.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pasadena.media
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PasadenaMedia/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pasadenamedia/
• Twitter: https://x.com/PasadenaMedia
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PasadenaMediaCA
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/pasadena-media-pasadena
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/pasadenamedia
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@pasadenamedia, https://www.threads.com/@pasadena.media, https://www.youtube.com/@jasiriouslyspeaking, & https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7sLrc8BlDSSTAsLeiovv_G9XiLHjDdTo&feature=shared

Image Credits
Pasadena Media