Jessi Bennett
Ohio
SFL SUCCESS STORY:
Jessi Bennett
SFL North America
An award-winning Campus Coordinator now working in the film industry
“I became interested in liberty at a very young age, because I never did well with rules.” So begins Jessi Bennett’s love of liberty which has now opened many doors to her.
A former Campus Coordinator from Capital University in Ohio, Jessi has been making quite the impact for liberty during the last few months.
She secured two awards at the Young Americans for Liberty National Convention. First for Chapter of the Year (of over 900 chapters), which was earned in recognition of her student group’s efforts at Capital University. Jessi describes this as her proudest accomplishment during her time with SFL saying, “My university (which I was Chapter president of at the time) was awarded chapter of the year – which was something we absolutely couldn’t have done without SFL’s support and resources.”
Jessi also won the Great Communicators Tournament hosted by Think Freely Media at the YAL National Convention. On her initial entry to the tournament, Jessi recalls, “The preliminary stages of the tournament involved sending in video speeches. I recorded mine immediately following SFL’s Top 100 Leadership Retreat, and used many of the communication skills that I had learned as a result.” She successfully passed all three rounds, beating dozens of other contestants, and secured the $500 prize.
Reflecting on her time with SFL, Jessi says she gained confidence in herself because “It’s easy to doubt yourself when you feel like you’re alone in your beliefs, but being exposed to others who appreciate your way of thinking can positively impact your self image.” By experiencing the community SFL has fostered, Jessi felt more confident in her convictions and was empowered to pursue the ideas of liberty.
Jessi has utilized her well-rounded talents to make a broad impact through film, and was recently awarded by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for her work as an audio engineer by receiving a Student Production Award for audio/sound at the Ohio Valley EMMY awards.
Now working in the film industry, Jessi sees her role as continuing to contribute to creating a freer society. “This is important to the liberty movement, because the film industry tends to be so far to the political left. Every step that I take towards working in true mass communications, is one step closer to spreading the ideas of liberty on a wider level.”
As a woman, Jessi is a minority in the film industry and this has helped shape her views on affirmative action. “I find the idea of the government ‘helping’ me find work to be demeaning, belittling, and outright offensive. I want my portfolio and my body of work to speaker louder than a hiring incentive program.”
Stay tuned for more information on Jessi and her mission to spread the message of liberty to a wider audience via the use of film!