CJI Board members during their meeting in Toronto on October 31, 2026. Photo: Juan Emilio Hernandez/CJI
by Desmond Wilson, Chair, CJI Board of Directors
Note: Desmond Wilson delivered the tribute during the CJI Board’s last meeting with CJI Executive Director Jenny Cafiso, who is retiring at the end of the year.
It is both a pleasure and a privilege to offer a few words of thanks and appreciation to Jenny as she retires from her role as Executive Director of Canadian Jesuits International.
When Jenny took on the leadership of CJI more than twenty years ago, the organization existed more as a vision than as a fully formed reality. There was for all intents and purposes, no established structure, no staff team, no funding base, and no portfolio of projects. What did exist was a conviction that Canadian Jesuits could and should stand in solidarity with those on the margins of our world.
Jenny took that conviction and, through years of dedication, wisdom, perseverance, and faith, transformed it into the Canadian Jesuits International we know today.
Because of her leadership, CJI has become a thriving and respected organization, with a talented and growing staff, strong partnerships around the world, dedicated donors, a substantial endowment providing long-term resilience, and a reputation that extends far beyond Canada. Through her work, CJI has become a valued and respected member of the worldwide Xavier Network and a trusted companion to partners pursuing justice, dignity, and hope.
Those accomplishments are remarkable. But numbers, programs, and balance sheets tell only part of the story.
What has always distinguished Jenny is the spirit with which she has carried out this work. She has never viewed social justice and global solidarity as simply worthy causes. She has understood them as expressions of the Gospel itself, as a constitutive dimension of our faith. She has reminded us, through both word and example, that solidarity is not an abstract idea but a way of seeing, a way of listening, and a way of accompanying others.
That vision has shaped CJI at its deepest level. It has shaped the organization, the people who have worked with it, and the countless relationships it has fostered throughout the world.
It is often said of remarkable leaders that they leave big shoes to fill. Jenny certainly does. The legacy she leaves is enormous.
But perhaps the greatest testament to her leadership is that she leaves behind an organization that is strong, confident, and clear about its mission. She leaves CJI not dependent on her, but ready for the future. Ready to continue the work. Ready to build on the foundation she has laid. Ready to move forward with optimism and purpose.
That is a rare gift.
Jenny, thank you for believing in this work when there was little more than a dream to believe in. Thank you for your courage when the path forward was unclear, for your persistence when the challenges seemed daunting, and for your unwavering conviction that faith calls us to stand with others in solidarity and hope.
The organization you leave behind is a remarkable achievement. But your greatest legacy is not the endowment, the staff, the programs, or the international reputation. It is the people you have inspired, the relationships you have nurtured, and the deeper understanding you have given so many of what it means to live our faith through the pursuit of justice.
We will miss your wisdom, your leadership, your steady presence, and your friendship. But we also know that your imprint on CJI will endure. It is woven into the organization’s mission, its culture, and its vision of the world.
May you look back on these years with pride, knowing that what began as a fragile hope has become a flourishing reality. Few people have the opportunity to leave the world measurably better than they found it. Through your life’s work, you have done exactly that.
On behalf of the Board, thank you. Thank you for your vision, your faith, your courage, and your extraordinary generosity of spirit. Above all, thank you for the difference you have made in the lives of so many people, many of whom you will never meet, but whose futures have been changed because you cared and because you acted.
