With March being Women’s History Month, PAR is proud to spotlight female leaders within our organization. Throughout the month, we will share inspiring stories to recognize and celebrate the remarkable women who contribute to the success of PAR.
Each of these profiles will explore the unique experiences and perspectives of our women leaders, shedding light on their paths to success. We will explore the challenges they've overcome, the lessons they've learned, and the impact they've had on our organization.
This week, we are proud to present Jenny Greene. Jenny is PAR’s digital assessment product owner.
Share a brief overview of your professional journey and how you arrived at your current role.
I started out working part-time at PAR as an intern while I completed my master’s degree. It was truly surprising to me that such a place even existed, as even though I had completed my bachelor’s in psychology, I had never really thought much about test development. In fact, though tests and measures was offered as an undergraduate elective, I was told to take experimental design instead because I planned to go to grad school.
After I completed my master’s degree, a full-time research assistant position opened up and I was excited to take on a new role at an organization I already enjoyed working for so much. As a research assistant, I worked with project directors on numerous products and with increasing responsibility and began conducting more and more of the analyses to support the products, such as norms, reliability, and validity studies. During that time, I completed my PhD in measurement and evaluation at the University of South Florida and developed and validated a measure of attitudes toward mental health services as part of my dissertation.
The combination of work experience and my degree set me up for future success in test development at PAR. In 2013, PAR launched PARiConnect, our online assessment platform. Over time, I gradually took on more work on the digital side of things, ensuring accurate translation of our many print products onto PARiConnect. I grew to love this work and as PAR transitioned to agile development, I went on to serve as digital assessment product owner.
In this role, I am responsible for requirements elicitation/development for digital assessment products. I work directly with our customers to ensure that we are creating products that are clinically useful and delight our customers. I work with a talented group of content project directors, developers, quality assurance testers, and UX/UI designers to continually add new assessments to PARiConnect, including novel and innovative new tests and features.
Who has been the most significant inspiration in your career?
Melissa Messer, PAR’s chief product officer, has had the most influence on me. We worked together closely for years as I served as her research assistant on many products. She taught me to think critically about product development, both from a psychometric standpoint but also about the clinical utility of the product.
She is a great leader whose passion and vision is inspiring to others.
What advice do you have for women aspiring to leadership roles?
Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself. Ask for what you want, such as the opportunity to work on a new project that will challenge you a bit beyond your current capabilities. The worst that can happen is they say no.
Be curious and try new things and processes. This will enable you and your team to have continual, incremental improvement.
Assume the best in people and assume good intentions. People will rise to the occasion if you show you believe in them.
When something goes wrong or a miscommunication happens, I like to think about how I contributed to a given situation and how I could improve it next time.
How do you balance your professional and personal life?
I practice being able to “turn off” work at the end of the day. It will still be there when I come back the next day.
I spend a lot of time cooking healthy meals and working out. I work to prioritize my sleep as well. I find that if I am healthy and well-rested, everything else in my life is so much easier.
Live in alignment with your values and make sure you make time for the things you value doing/being. Everyone’s “perfect life” looks different, so try not to compare yourself to others.
Catch up on previous profiles of Kristin Greco, Melissa Messer, Jaleesa Hardy, and Brooke Maynard.