To celebrate the 20th Anniversary, Director Jess Lawrence will be highlighting key partners, clients, projects, and resources throughout her twenty years in leadership of Cairn Guidance.
As we celebrate 20 years of Cairn Guidance, I’ll be highlighting key partners, projects, and pivotal moments that shaped my leadership journey.
One of those moments happened long before Cairn Guidance officially began.
In 2003, I was hired at the Oregon Department of Education as the Health Education Curriculum Specialist. Less than a year later, the American Cancer Society released a national call for nominations to serve on the second edition of the National Health Education Content Standards Review and Revision Panel.
I almost didn’t apply.
I was in my late 20s. I had five years of middle school teaching experience. I had no national profile – just a SHAPE (then AAHPERD) membership and a deep belief in the power of quality health education.
I threw my name in the hat anyway.
To my surprise, I was selected as one of eighteen educators from across the United States. I arrived at our first meeting in Atlanta in September 2004 feeling incredibly fortunate- and completely intimidated. Many panelists represented Institutions of Higher Education and State Departments of Education with decades of experience. I wondered what I could possibly contribute.
Then I learned something that stung.
Someone from the selection committee mentioned that because I applied as “Jess Lawrence,” there was a possibility my pronouns were he/him, and the panel had many more women than men.
It didn’t feel great to hear that.
But here’s what I know now: once I was in the room, I belonged there.
Over the next two years, I worked alongside some of the most brilliant minds in health education. We debated. We philosophized. We strategized. We wrote – and rewrote – and wrote again. I had the privilege of co-authoring the Assessment chapter, Measuring Excellence, which ignited my passion for helping educators strengthen curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices.
That experience launched me into national training and professional development work, and ultimately shaped the leadership approach I carry into Cairn Guidance today.
The mentors I learned from during that time- Marilyn Jensen, Kim Clark, Ellen Larson, Mary Marks, Eric Pliner, Linda Morse, Barb Sullivan, Marlene Tappe, Sue Telljohann, Mary Waters, Kathy Wilbur, Fred Peterson, Valerie Ubbes, Becky Smith, Steve Dorman, and others – deeply influenced my thinking and growth. While we may not work together regularly today, their impact on me is lasting. I have been fortunate to collaborate again with Antionette Meeks and to reconnect with colleagues like Mary Connolly at conferences over the years.
Although I represented the Oregon Department of Education, not Cairn Guidance, on that panel, the experience fundamentally changed my career trajectory.
It affirmed something essential: Sometimes you are chosen for the wrong reasons.
But what you do once you’re in the room is what truly defines you.
And yes – I was, in fact, a woman. And I was exactly where I was meant to be.
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