Jhenelle Jacas

Position: Cabin Crew Member
Base: JFK
Pronouns: she/her

I was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, and moved to the US after I graduated from University in 2010 with my BSc in Tourism Management. I started my flying journey in 2014 with Norwegian, but have been working in the Travel & Tourism industry since 2007. My tourism work experience was primarily in hospitality, as I worked at various hotels in the Caribbean.

While working for the Hilton brand in 2008, I began focusing on communication, primarily business communication, as I found that effective communication was essential in the workplace. Since then, I have continued to hone my skills and have done freelance work for various companies to assist in building communication tools and strategies for colleagues and customers. 

My goal with the communications is to engage our membership and ensure that they are receiving information in a timely manner and to find out exactly what issues are happening on the line that need more intense focus.

Human rights and equity issues have always been close to my heart. As a Queer, Black, Immigrant Woman, living in the United States, my existence in and of itself is a political issue, and an act of resistance. I was born and raised in a country that was considered violently homophobic, and moved to the US when I was an adult, which is where I confronted racism for the first time in my entire life.

I was have been inspired by the protests on TV demanding equal rights and justice for women, for the LGBTQ+ community, as well as People of Color on a whole. I experienced local strikes due to challenging economic issues and witnessed the labor unions in my country come together to advocate for the rights of their members in various sectors. I realised that these movements were built from the ground up. You don’t get to the thousands marching in the street without first talking to the people in your affected group and doing all you can to ensure their voices are heard. 

I believe that we need to create a safe space for all people within our organisation to be able to come together and know that we will champion their causes, no matter their gender, sexuality, race, economic status, disabilities, etc. We need a sincere focus on moving forward as a unit, and not replicating the mistakes of airlines past due to a lack of cultural understanding and inability to engage with/enact policies that benefit all the members of the workforce. Moreover, I am confident that together our collective efforts can create a future where everyone enjoys equal rights and opportunities at Norse, and in the community at large.

Feel free to reach out to me via email if you have any questions or concerns about HRE or Communications.