Jeanine L. Washington was born and raised on the west side of Chicago. Raised by a single parent and has no siblings, she started her childhood attending the neighborhood public schools. At the age of 9, she was selected to attend one of the few magnet schools in Chicago. Jeanine was the first in her family to complete college. She earned a B.S. degree in accounting from Illinois State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Jeanine has over twenty years of accounting experience in the corporate and non-profit sectors. She began her career as a business analyst at CNA insurance and later went on to hold various management positions in operations and corporate finance. She helped save the company over $44 million in expenses, develop and deploy new financial systems, and centralize key accounting operations. Jeanine currently works as the accounting manager at Opportunity International, a non-profit organization, where she oversees the global financials for Opportunity and its foreign subsidiaries.
Jeanine served as a board member and trustee for Garden of Prayer church. As the trustee responsible for all of the church financials, she created their first financial statements and implemented formal accounting processes. As a result, she helped the church save $200,000 in two years which led to the purchase of a new facility. Jeanine was also a board member and mentor of a community youth choir which aimed to give Chicago’s youth an outlet.
Jeanine once heard someone say, “You can blame others for knocking you down but you can only blame yourself for not getting up.” This saying stuck with me and was often my motivation during difficult times. I believe there are many out there that need someone to tell them they can Get Back Up. In spite of what life has thrown at you, in spite of the situations we may have gotten ourselves into, we can still Get Back Up. Right Choices is the perfect avenue to motivate and inspire women, young and old, to Get Back Up!
