Alumni Spotlight: Jesenia Wright, LMSW

Jesenia Wright is a homegrown Utican through and through. Today, she serves as the Director of School-Based Mental Health at iCAN, a role that feels like a full-circle moment. She didn’t get to where she is, professionally or personally, by accident. She’ll tell you firsthand: it's taken grit.  

“From being born and raised in Utica, to being a student and now actually going into the Utica schools and meeting with principals, assistant principals and sometimes social workers or guidance counselors, it's just ironic. It’s also amazing to see how far I’ve come,” says Wright.

The wisdom she’s gained through her lived experiences is something we can all learn from.

Today, Wright resides in South Utica with her husband and three children. She grew up in East Utica and now works about halfway between the two, in a one-of-a-kind building: the new Utica Children’s Museum. Behind the museum’s doors is the Family Resource Center, which houses several iCAN-centered programs in a first of its kind model in the country.

“I realized I really wanted to be at an organization where they value their employees, and they also value innovation when it comes to meeting community needs. When iCAN sees a need, they try to build programming or develop something to bridge the gap,” Wright explains. 

Reflecting on her childhood, Wright recalls starting kindergarten at Albany Elementary. She later graduated elementary school from Columbus, where one of her favorite teachers, Heather Galinski, is currently the principal at Roscoe Conkling Elementary School.

“If I had to give advice to Utica students today, I would say: live in your purpose. Be your true, authentic self. I feel like by being your authentic self, everything else will fall into place,” she says. “Sometimes we show up in this world as somebody we are not because somebody else wants us to be that person. And the whole time, you're living in misery because you're not truly being yourself. So when you show up as you, everything that's aligned with who you are will come to you. Obviously, you have to work hard for it and there are going to be obstacles, things outside of your control but be your authentic self and be kind. I feel there's enough space in the room for everybody. If you know something, teach somebody else. The more the merrier, right?” Wright proclaims.

After graduating from JFK Middle school and then Proctor High, Wright remembers teachers who were strong advocates for her and her potential.

“Today in my role at iCAN, I work with William Smith. He's now the principal at General Herkimer, but to me, he was always Mr. Smith, my advanced math teacher at Proctor. I started out in A.I.S. math, and he advocated to get me out,” Wright says.

While academics came fairly easily to her while being a student in the Utica City School District, college was another story.

“I wanted to go to the University at Albany. I only applied to one school, and unfortunately or maybe fortunately, I got rejected. So I applied to SUNY Buffalo because my best friend was going there at the time. I wanted to experience life outside of Utica. I was there for about a year and a half. Then going into my sophomore year, I got pregnant with my son.”

She continued: “I finished my first semester, but eventually came back to Utica and completed my degree at Utica College in 2013,” she said.

Motherhood only fueled her desire to finish her degree. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice. She then returned to her original passion: social work. It was a field she had tried to pursue in Buffalo but struggled to enter at the time.

“I graduated from Proctor with high honors and with an advanced Regents diploma. So when I got into college, I'm like, Well now I don’t have to study! I didn't have the study habits I needed, and I couldn't get my GPA high enough to get into the social work major at Buffalo,” Wright recalled.

Still, she persevered. In 2019, Wright went on to earn her Master’s degree in social work online from Case Western Reserve University.

Academics weren’t the only hurdles she had to overcome to be who she is today. Growing up she moved around often and didn’t have a picture-perfect childhood.

“Sometimes people think that because they go through things, they're not worthy. My mother struggled with mental health and substance abuse, and that's why we moved around so much. She also experienced domestic violence in relationships. That created some trauma and instability in my life. But even with that trauma, you can still become whoever you want to be. You can still be successful,” Wright shared.

Today, she remains close with many of her fellow Proctor graduates and treasures the memories and friendships they built as students. A self-proclaimed lifelong learner, Wright isn’t done discovering new things. She’s not afraid to share the ups and downs of her journey. Her vulnerability is as inspiring as her determination.

“I would say be proud of who you are and where you're from. Sometimes Utica gets a bad rap, but there's so much good happening here, especially in the district. If you decide to go away to college, which I think everybody should if they can, then think about coming back and pouring into your community. I think it's important for people to see the folks who are here doing the work, and also those who came back.”

She certainly practices what she preaches. Wright has established a donation-based clothing closet called Givings Closet, where she transports clothing and shoes to those in need.

Wright is thankful to the UCSD for its partnership in her professional life, and for the foundation it gave her growing up, leaving us with these closing words, “Utica made amazing people.”