Nearly seven years ago, when Jessie Pocock became executive director and CEO of Inside Out Youth Services, which supports LGBTQ+ youths in Colorado Springs, she oversaw one full-time and one part-time employee, a budget of $250,000 and a handful of programs for teens.

When she exits the role at the end of this month, she’ll leave the organization with 19 paid staff, a budget topping $2.2 million, dozens of programs and an expanded community center that is experiencing record client growth.

“It continues to be a challenging time for these young people, the rhetoric around being LGBTQ in schools and maybe in their homes is hard and impactful,” Pocock said. “If they’re not feeling respected, loved and heard, they know they can come to Inside Out and get that, and it helps them go back to school or wherever.”

Pocock’s leadership since 2018 has been “transformative and inspirational,” said Inside Out board member Dom Angiollo.

“She’s a visionary in how she’s been able to grow this organization,” he said. “While most other organizations were struggling to survive during the pandemic, and then dealing with post-Club Q, which had a huge impact on the LGBTQ community — despite those two obstacles and traumatic events, she was able to grow the organization.”

Pocock turned the setbacks of those events into opportunities, creating new virtual programming and meetups during COVID-19 that have continued today, and improving security after the November 2022 mass shooting at the gay bar, Club Q, to include an on-site guard who teens nicknamed the Knight of the Rainbow Table.

And in February, the organization relocated to a much larger space.

“We were operating on such a shoestring budget, and my first few years it was really hard to get any funding from anyone,” Pocock said.

“I did everything to pull in money to support the programs these young people deserve and need,” she said. “One of the things I recognized right away is not every young person is going to have access to our community center, but if we can change the community we can impact tens of thousands of lives. So we built robust, evidence-based programs in the center to reach them and support them no matter where they are.”

Pocock employed the same strategy she’s used with helping LGBTQ+ teens and young adults grapple with issues. She built relationships with funders around the state, with the organization’s clients, who are ages 13-24, and with employees.

“We are an organization that’s about young people, and it takes people to build those relationships — which are so protective,” she said.

Research shows youths are less likely to use substances, be truant from school, or attempt suicide if they have a trusted adult in their lives, Pocock said.

The work of Inside Out also is about “developing and supporting that leadership coming around these young people that share their identities,” she said. “We have such a relentless passionate group of staff who make things happen.”

Next door to a former gay nightclub and dance hall, the new Inside Out at 516 W. Colorado Ave. has many rooms, including a Maker Space for hanging out or engaging in the center’s offerings.

“As one that seeks to create conditions for young people to thrive, to bring young people together not around alcohol, but around connection and learning, tells us we’re really becoming a true community center especially for young people,” Pocock said.

Last year, 232 youth used in-person and virtual programs of Inside Out, with a total of 3,847 visits for everything from activities such as music nights and baking classes, access to an on-site clothing closet and lending library, educational talks, advocacy and social justice projects and health-related programs on suicide prevention and substance abuse.

The organization also provided 650 individual therapy sessions with youth last year and offers services such as testing for sexually transmitted infections and connections to find medical providers.

Also, Inside Out runs the Safe at Schools Coalition, a group of students, parents, educators, administrators and advocates, collaborate to make schools safer for all students, regardless of sexual orientation, transgender status, gender identity or gender expression.

Pocock’s personality has been just the right fit for working with teen clients, Angiollo said.

She’s one of those leaders who treats all people she interacts with — even if it’s a brief encounter — as though they have value and they belong, he said.

“She has this enthusiasm about her that, no matter what’s going on, no matter what negativity is happening, she has an aura of positivity that makes you feel like there’s still hope and I’m still valued. And given the youth we work with and what they experience outside our community center, that’s so important.”

Pocock said she’d “love to stay at the job,” but for the past year and a half she’s faced health issues. As her contract neared expiration, the organization’s board asked her what she planned to do.

“In September, I took a medical leave, and I’d been thinking about stepping down,” she said. “I need to focus on getting my health back in order and the organization needed to move forward.”

Pocock’s last day is Dec. 31. For now, she’s been assisting with the transition to a new co-director model of leadership that employees proposed.

The board selected Angie Hackett-Larson and Stephanie Samora, who had already been working for Inside Out, to serve as co-directors.

“They provide a perfect complement to each other with Angie’s strengths focused on operations and programs, while Stephanie’s strengths are in community relations and fundraising,” board members said in a recent letter to supporters announcing the change in leadership.

Pocock previously worked as director of the LEAD Foundation, a high school program that supports students who have learning and educational disabilities.

What might be next in her career depends on what comes along and feels right, she said, mentioning that she’s also a poet and a writer so might veer in a creative direction.

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Pocock said there’s still work to be done to help kids feel safe, connected and comfortable with who they are and how they’re treated by society.

“Even as young people, they’re wise and understanding that ‘It’s not so much about me but about somebody not understanding, and my job is to be a good person and be nice to my friends and good to other people. And hopefully folks will come around to being more supportive.’”