Jasmine White: New-ish Kid on the Block

Meet Jasmine White. Fairly new on the Salem scene, she has hit the ground running.

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, and raised in New Jersey, she moved to Washington, DC for graduate school where she decided it was a good place to land. Her next 18-plus years were spent working in public access television and community media between DC and Maryland. 

Jasmine accepted the position of Executive Director for Capital Community Media (formally CCTV) and moved to Salem in August of 2020, during the thick of the pandemic. She drove from DC to Salem with her 12-year-old pug, Bella. 

Since moving to Salem, Jasmine has immersed herself in the community by getting active in local organizations. She joined the Salem-Keizer NAACP, the downtown Salem Rotary Club, and is serving on the Board of Directors for Liberty House and Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency. Additionally, she is a participant in Groundwork Leadership Institute, which has afforded her the opportunity to meet some amazing Salem leaders.

Although Jasmine may be one of the newer kids on the Salem block, she’s stepping up for the Cherry City. We look forward to seeing everything she can accomplish. Let’s stop and let one of our newest leaders introduce herself Press Play Salem style.

What is your favorite thing about Salem?
The people. Salemites are friendly, welcoming, helpful and much nicer than us east coast folks. 

What is your favorite thing to do in Salem?
Explore. I love learning about Salem neighborhoods and stumbling upon restaurants, food carts and food carts

Tell me something about yourself that I would never guess just looking at you?
I’m an introvert. I’m not shy or uneasy in social situations, but I really enjoy alone time and the opportunity to be reflective. 

If you could meet your 18-year-old self, what advice would you give her?
Practicing gratitude is life’s cheat code.

What is your “go-to” music when you are in the car?
Hip hop and R&B from the late 90s through early 2000s. Definitely a golden era of music for me. 

What is one of your guilty pleasures?
Binge-watching true-crime series. I’m fascinated by human behavior and the very strange things that people do.

What is your biggest pet peeve?
It’s a tie between loud chewing and when people don’t clean up behind themselves. I just do not understand how adults can just make a mess and walk away. 

Where would you go in a time machine?
Harlem, NY in the 1920s to experience the Harlem Renaissance. It was a period of black cultural awareness, art, culture and timeless fashion. 

Morning or Night?
Morning

Sweet or savory?
Both  

Night on the town or curled up with a good book and/or movie at home?
Either — just depends on my mood. 

This story originally ran in Press Play Salem issue 14 (Summer 2022)