Getting to Know Equity, Social Justice, and Advocacy Award Recipient Melissa Kenny

On advocacy, soccer, and Popeye

By MIKE CAMPBELL HMS Community

3 min read

Melissa Kenny first came to Harvard Medical School in 2005 to work in information technology as an internet information server administrator, maintaining the HMS and Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine websites.

Almost 20 years later, Kenny is an integral part of the HMS community, and not just because she maintains essential IT infrastructure.

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Kenny also co-leads the LGBTQIA+ Advisory Committee, supporting LGBTQIA+ staff, faculty, and students at HMS. Her work helped earn her one of two Equity, Social Justice, and Advocacy Awards for staff this year.

The awards recognize individuals in the HMS community who affirm the School’s mission, community values, and medical professionalism through their efforts to advance equity, social justice, and advocacy.

“She fearlessly builds community and creates a space for all people to be their most authentic self,” Kenny’s nominators said.

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MyHMS chatted with Kenny about her work, her advocacy, and her soccer fandom.

MyHMS: What is your role at HMS?

Melissa Kenny: My job title is rather out of date, but I work on the Enterprise Services team in IT under the Infrastructure Group. I work on services such as e-mail, authentication, web services, databases, and Windows server management.

MyHMS: What was your path to your current position?

Kenny: I was originally hired to maintain websites running on Windows server. At the time, that included the main HMS website as well as the Countway site. Shortly thereafter, I took on the maintenance of the eCommons and MyCourses websites. I was also assigned responsibility for our mailing list software , and I continue to manage that service today.

As time went on, I inherited responsibility for many other parts of our Windows-based IT infrastructure, which I define as the systems that most people don’t notice until they’re broken.

MyHMS: What do you like most about working at HMS?

Kenny: I like that the work I do, however indirectly, helps to improve the health and well-being of my fellow humans.

MyHMS: What are the goals of the LGBTQIA+ Advisory Committee? What is your role on the committee?

Kenny: I am one of the co-chairs of the committee, representing the staff. The goal is to provide advice to the dean on issues affecting the LGBTQ2IA+ [note: 2 denotes two-spirit, a term used by some Native Americans to describe individuals who identify as both masculine and feminine] communities at HMS. I am hoping that we will be able to find ways to bring the LGBTQ2IA+ community closer together through events, discussions, and gatherings.

MyHMS: What would you say to someone who wants to know how they can help HMS advance equity, social justice, and advocacy?

Kenny: It’s important to judge humans on their ability and their character and not on their identity.

MyHMS: What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at work?

Kenny: I am a big sports fan, and I watch a lot of baseball and soccer. I’m also on the board of the newly formed National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Boston supporters’ group. We’re preparing for women’s soccer to come back to Boston, and I’ll be there with my drum.

MyHMS: What are three things that most people don’t know about you?

Kenny: I listen to music a lot, especially African music, and go to live performances whenever I can. I’m originally from New York but have lived here long enough to think of myself as both a Bostonian and a New Yorker. I was in Shea Stadium for Game 6 of the 1986 World Series (sorry for the bad memory, Sox fans).

MyHMS: Do you have a motto?

Kenny: If I had one, it would be borrowed from Popeye: “I yam what I yam, and that’s all what I yam.”

This interview was edited for length and clarity.