Marcia Szymanski: Making the world a safer place

Marcia Szymanski, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, is executive director of the Attleboro-based New Hope, which is a perfect name to describe her transition from the business world to the world of nonprofits. 

When Szymanski was first starting out, there was nothing in her career goals that hinted she would some day run a nonprofit organization that strives to end domestic and sexual violence and abuse. Szymanski’s early goal was to make a lot of money in business. 

After completing some courses toward a business degree at the University of New Orleans, in her hometown, she transferred to John Carroll University, in Cleveland, where she studied part-time while working at General Electric.

Szymanski had great success at GE, so she left school. Soon, she was transferred to a GE branch in Newton, Massachusetts. But when the company closed that branch, Szymanski was burdened with the duty of laying off her co-workers.  This experience, she says, sparked a change in her.

“It was not easy to tell these people in their mid-40s and mid-50s that they were going to be out of jobs. It really soured the experience,” she says. “I decided I couldn’t work in that environment anymore.”

Szymanski went on to complete a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and theology at Emmanuel College, in Boston, and then a master’s in social work at Boston University. The focus of the master’s, she says, was more on community organizing and nonprofit management than on clinical social work.

After school, she managed a number of nonprofit projects and organizations, including a few years in community organizing and eight years at a family planning clinic. From there, she went to Health Imperatives, in Brockton, Massachusetts, to work on ending domestic abuse and sexual violence. While Szymanski says all of this work struck a chord with her in terms of giving back, she found her work at Health Imperatives particularly meaningful.

“I felt it was something that really was making a positive difference in people’s lives. There was something about this kind of work that spoke to me in a deeper way,” she  says.

Szymanski was with Health Imperatives for 18 years, until her position was eliminated. She then took the position of interim executive director at New Hope, which became permanent in March of 2015.

Now, between overseeing four locations and a staff of about 60 employees, and recruiting donors, Szymanski’s days are packed. But she still finds time to attend services at Congregation Agudas Achim, in Attleboro. And the driving force to improve the world remains strong in her.

“This whole belief in social justice. That for me has been a really defining piece of my life,” says Szymanski, who also says that experiencing racial segregation at a young age had an impact on her motivation. “To make the world a better place has been driving me throughout my life.”

While Szymanski notes that domestic and sexual abuse occurs  across all demographics, New Hope is currently exploring the correlation between such abuse and factors such as homophobia, transphobia, racism and poverty. Addressing these connections, she says, is part of the organization’s strategic plan moving forward.

“Our work is really about anti-oppression works,” she says. 

Szymanski says she’s come full circle from her early goal of making money in the business world.

“I came to the realization that all those material things aren’t really important,” she says.

ARIEL BROTHMAN is a freelance writer who lives in Wrentham, Massachusetts.