JASMINE A. CLEMONS

Daily Record Staff//August 24, 2023//

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Director, Board of Public Works, Comptroller of Maryland

Jasmine A. Clemons left a career in sales and management to pursue a new one in public service. Since February, she has worked as Board of Public Works director for the Comptroller of Maryland.

What do you consider your most significant professional accomplishment to be?

At the age of 30, I decided to leave my sales and management career to work in public service. Pursuing my graduate degree full-time in a new state was a huge challenge, mentally and financially. It was a decision I second guessed almost daily. I will be paying those school loans off until I die but that risk allowed me to build the career that I have today.

Do you have a quote you live by?

“Your work will speak for itself.” – Sometimes public service looks and feels like it isn’t made for people like me, adding even more barriers on top of what daily life throws at Black women. The barriers only get taller the higher up you try to go, making it very difficult to get the same opportunities as others. I can’t change any of that but what I can do is work really hard, continuously improve and strive for a reputation as a smart, talented policy person.

This is an honoree profile from The Daily Record's Leading Women awards. Information for this profile was sourced from the honoree's application for the award.