From a very young age, Mojdeh Javid, our new shelter manager at Nellie’s, always knew that she wanted to help fight against injustices in the world. While she originally thought she would become a lawyer, her life ended up taking a different path. After being forced to leave her home country of Iran while still in law school, Mojdeh landed in Canada about eight years ago and ended up shifting her studies to social work. While in school, Mojdeh chose to focus several of her projects on gender-based violence, and her first internship was with a women’s organization.
“It feels so right to end up at Nellie’s,” explains Mojdeh. “This has been a passion for me — empowering women with the help of women. One of the reasons I’ve always wanted to be in a leadership position is because I see opportunities to empower people and help people grow, and in this field the amazing part is when you empower your staff, they in turn empower their clients.”
For Mojdeh, it was this focus on empowerment at Nellie’s that helped her realize that we would be a perfect match — especially our ideology that empowerment has to first start at the staff level.
“In my seven to eight years in the field, I didn’t see this perspective in other organizations,” Mojdeh says. “Typically they talk about clients separately — but if you don’t treat your staff with inclusivity, or you don’t create psychological safety for them, how can you expect your staff to carry that to a client? If you’re dedicated to having trauma-informed services, you have to start with your staff, because they then carry it to the frontlines.”
Having only started at Nellie’s at the end of August, Mojdeh is still settling into her role here — but she’s quick to point out how positive her experience has been so far. “I’ve been to and worked in a number of shelters, and Nellie’s is one of the best I’ve seen. It’s such a safe, dignified place for women,” explains Mojdeh.
“When women come here, they already feel a sense of rejection, and feel like it’s so hard to ask for help. But when you provide an environment that is beautiful and safe, they feel like they have a temporary home here. It’s a healing place, and we’re proud as a community to be a part of their healing journeys.”
Outside of her full-time role at Nellie’s, Mojdeh spends a lot of her time writing, and has authored several picture books and novels, both in English and Farsi. She’s also a Certified Personality Dimensions trainer and enjoys helping people discover their strengths and communicate more effectively. In everything that she does, Mojdeh’s focus is on helping people.
“It doesn’t matter to me if you’re a CEO, a janitor, a colleague, or a client — if I have an opportunity to care for somebody or help them in any way, I want to do that.” Mojdeh says. “I care for people, and I really believe people are the centre of the work we do at Nellie’s, and that means our staff and also our clients.”