For the first time in nearly three decades, one of Centre County’s most notable nonprofits has a new leader.
This month, Jennifer Pencek became Centre Safe’s newest executive director, succeeding Anne Ard after 25 years of service. Pencek spent more than a decade working at Penn State and Juniata College before arriving at Centre Safe, which works to aid survivors of sexual violence, relationship violence and stalking and eliminate such violence.
StateCollege.com sat down with Pencek to learn more about her new role, her past experiences and what the future of Centre Safe might hold.
StateCollege.com: Could you introduce yourself and Centre Safe for those who might not be familiar with your work?
Jennifer Pencek: Well, I’m the new executive director of Centre Safe. I officially started [on Nov. 3], and I’ve loved my time there so far. At Centre Safe and as its executive director, I’m taking over for Anne Ard, who recently retired after about 25 years there. She did an amazing job in that role, and I’m really excited to be there and lead this important organization. People tend to think sometimes of “just State College” or “just downtown,” but it’s really so much more. Centre Safe supports victims and survivors and their loved ones all across Centre County, which is a lot larger than people think. We are in really every corner of the county and work hard to be available and accessible for people. I’m really happy to be here.
SC: What brought you to Centre Safe? What makes the organization stand out?
JP: I’ve been very familiar with Centre Safe for years. I first learned of it when I worked at Penn State for about 12 years or so, first at the Center for the Performing Arts and then the Gender Equity Center on campus, where I spent six or seven years. In that role, I was able to work very closely with Centre Safe on various programs and different initiatives, but also in connecting with students and people on campus to Centre Safe’s services.
Once I heard that Anne [Ard] retired, I thought this would be an amazing opportunity. I volunteered for Centre Safe’s hotline for a number of years and became more familiar with that service, in addition to crisis counseling, and really respected the work that everyone’s doing there, as well as the work it takes to provide such high-level service. It takes a lot of truly dedicated people and fantastic support from our community and fundraisers. It really is an organization that a lot of people can be proud of.
I had lunch today [on Nov. 10] with a woman who’s been a wonderful supporter of ours, and even she was saying that Centre Safe is a jewel for our community — something everyone can be proud of, especially when you remember not every area has an organization like Centre Safe. Sometimes, people need to travel long distances to access those services, so we try to be as accessible as possible.
SC: You noted how large of an impact Centre Safe can have on its community. How do you hope to sustain and develop that level of service?
JP: It might sound cliche, but it really does take a team to make something like this work. Even if you think about the world of COVID-19 and how, unfortunately, you had so many people and organizations suffering during that time, something to be proud of is how Centre Safe was able to stay open and provide high-level services. It takes dedicated, creative people to value the work we do and value those needs. For me, the goals are to lead that team but not assume I know everything or have all the answers. I want to be part of that team that’s working so hard to maintain Centre Safe and help it grow. Every organization can grow and expand services, but what we want to do is make sure all victims and survivors and their loved ones get the love and support they need, all in ways they don’t feel judged or belittled or like they’re bothering anyone. We want to empower victims and survivors while working toward ending violence.
SC: Do you have any new services or initiatives for Centre Safe in mind? What might the big picture look like?
JP: I’ll be connecting with our department leaders soon to learn more about the history of their work, what ideas they might have and what they’re currently working on. I haven’t quite had the opportunity to do all of that quite yet, but I’d like to meet with directors and community members to find out what has been helpful so far and what we can do to continue growing. Without a doubt, I’m sure we’re going to have some fantastic projects coming up. And thanks to our wonderful funders, we are able to work toward those goals. I’ve got nothing specific to announce just yet, but our services, including counseling and advocacy to our hotline and outreach and education efforts, are going to continue.
We love working with volunteers and other organizations. I want to always encourage people, so never feel like you aren’t worthy enough to come work with us or help us. Everyone has value, and we want to work with as many people as we can.
SC: How have your experiences at Penn State and Juniata prepared you for your new role?
JP: It’s very important to avoid putting yourself in a certain box, or saying, “This was my major in college, so I can only do this career for the rest of my life.” For me, whether it’s my experience at Juniata or all my experiences at Penn State, I feel like it’s all led me to where I am today. All of those jobs and skills will absolutely shape and inform the work I do at Centre Safe, whether it be marketing, writing, collaborating, programming, fundraising and so on. I use those skills every day, and all those experiences have led me to this point.
SC: What did you learn from Anne Ard and her work with Centre Safe? How might her example help you in this new endeavor?
JP: With the time I had with Anne already, seeing her dedication to this work is key. She was involved with Centre Safe before it was even Centre Safe. It was formerly the Centre County Women’s Resource Center, and my understanding is that she first got involved with the organization as a volunteer a long, long time ago. For Anne, she had a lot of that historical knowledge and dedication and passion, all starting from when she was a volunteer. She really grew into the role that she had and really grew into Centre Safe.
I’ve learned to hold on to that passion and that dedication. You’re going to have good days and your not-so-good days. You’re going to have days when you’re stressed or you’re tired or you wonder if you had an impact today. My goal is to hold onto the reason why. You know, “Why are you there?” You ask yourself that and keep the motivation to keep going and to get better every day. If you don’t reach that goal, that’s OK. Each day is a new opportunity to do better and support those who need support.
SC: You’ve talked at length about the in-house support Centre Safe receives. How can the community get involved to aid those efforts?
JP: People can give their time or their talents, or they can give support financially or even by spreading the word. A colleague of mine at Centre Safe recently went out to Foxdale Village Retirement Community, and we talked about how volunteering can be much broader than helping out with a hotline, as not everyone is available overnight in that way. Even just spreading the word about what we do and raising support for victims and survivors and clients is key. That’s something that we really treasure.
For people who want to get involved, just contact us. People can go right to our website, www.centresafe.org, and read information about getting involved. People can just call us at (814) 238-7066 or email us at centresafe@centresafe.org to let us know what they’re interested in. Some people want to donate funds, which is certainly always welcome. Some people might want information on joining the volunteer class and working on the hotline. Others might want to request a program or have Centre Safe come to a staff meeting or a classroom. It doesn’t need to be a rigid list, and everyone has something to offer.
Even if someone is reading this and thinking, “Oh, I’m not educated in that area. That’s not my area of expertise.” If you are a human being, you can do it. If you can relate to one another, human to human, that’s the point we have to remember. It doesn’t necessarily matter what someone’s education is or what they’ve worked on before. If you’re a human and you care about others, you have value and you have gifts to offer. We’d love to work with people to find out what those gifts might be and how they might like to get involved. If you contact us, we’re more than happy to connect with you and find a good fit.
