JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville trailblazer who founded and led a nonprofit centered around empowering LGBTQIA+ youth is retiring from her post after nearly three decades of service.
Cindy Watson, the founder and acting CEO of JASMYN, Jacksonville Area Sexual Minority Youth Network, announced Monday that her last day with the organization will be December 31, 2023.
"Leading JASMYN to its nationally recognized role in empowering LGBTQ+ youth in Northeast Florida has been a joyful journey with many battles and even more accomplishments many did not think possible," said Watson.
Watson was JASMYN's first-ever CEO, signing the official documents starting the nonprofit in her own living room on National Coming Out Day, back on Oct. 11, 1994.
Since the creation of JASMYN, the group has grown into a multi-million dollar advocacy group serving nearly 1,000 young people a year at its campus in Jacksonville's Brooklyn neighborhood. The group has served more than 25,000 people since 1994.
Watson said in a statement she's honored she got the chance to serve Jacksonville's youth through JASMYN.
“We have been innovators in this space from day one. From starting as a peer group for LGBTQ youth, to becoming a resource for all youth in fighting the spread of HIV and combatting homelessness," Watson said. "I know JASMYN and this incredible community have much greater things to achieve together as I step aside and begin my next chapter.”
JASMYN will have an interim CEO in place before the end of the year, with an estimated term of roughly six months.