To Be a Black Woman in Today's Fire Service with Jennifer Osborne

On this show, we’re going to explore some of the unique experiences of a firefighter who is in the minority on two fronts: She’s a woman and she’s Black. Jennifer Osborne is a 16-year veteran of the Clark County, Nevada, Fire Department. They cover an area in and around Las Vegas. She first became a paramedic in Colorado in 1999 before heading to the fire academy. So she’s been around long enough to have gained some perspective on what it’s like to be in a very small minority…in fact, she was just the third black female firefighter in her current department when she finished the academy. Jennifer has enjoyed her career—she’s an engineer now—but, as you might expect, there have been a few struggles along the way.