Sacramento-based nonprofit<\/a> that provides shelter and support services for people experiencing domestic violence and sexual assault. She says her work has centered on standing with people on their worst days and helping them believe there can still be better ones ahead.<\/p>\n\u201cI thought I was going to do fundraising for the arts,\u201d Hassett said.<\/p>\n
Hassett studied finance and later went to graduate school for communications. For a time, she thought her future lived somewhere near a stage. But she said she found herself drawn instead to \u201chard conversations\u201d about issues that shape people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just found that I wanted to have hard conversations with people \u2026 about issues that impact people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Those conversations brought her to WEAVE. Back in 1995, Hassett was fundraising for the nonprofit \u2014 but she was also sitting side by side with survivors, sometimes just hours after an assault.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was their first day, first worst day,\u201d Hassett said. \u201cAnd it was my job to guide them through the process and just be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
What stuck out in her mind wasn\u2019t the trauma \u2014 it was the resilience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always impressed with how people can sift through what happened to them, arise, and become successful in their lives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That belief \u2014 that people can rise \u2014 became the foundation of her leadership. And eventually, her calling.<\/p>\n
Hassett became CEO more than 20 years ago. And in that time, she said WEAVE has had to navigate crises that threatened both services and staffing, including the Great Recession.<\/p>\n
Hassett recalled a Friday in 2008 that she said changed dozens of lives, when they laid off a third of their staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really, really rough,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was sad. There were people who worked here for years and years and years, and we had to tell them: We just don\u2019t have the funding to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got 40 people living in our shelter and they can\u2019t go anywhere?\u201d she said. And things are hard \u2014 even now<\/p>\n
\u201cThis last year has been really rough,\u201d she said. \u201cReally looking at some policies and stuff that are coming down that are at odds with our agency and at odds with people wanting to step up and get help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Policies change. Funding shifts. The need never stops. Hassett admits the costs are real.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no work-life balance and I have no boundaries,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Hassett, she said, this job is her identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI exist in this community to let everyone know how they can help WEAVE,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t always like that. There was a moment she tried to leave. Hassett said she burned out from carrying so many stories, leading her to step away and try other jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really hit a wall with vicarious trauma \u2014 with hearing people\u2019s stories, with feeling disempowered,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But, she came back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m my best self when I\u2019m working in this community,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s my superpower.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Hassett took over, the organization\u2019s shelter was smaller and more limited \u2014 made of cinder blocks and hosting people for just 10 days. So, she imagined something different.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can we make it feel more like home?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
And then she built it \u2014 a new safe house with private cottages and supportive housing; permanent places to heal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want people to leave to where they want to go,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we\u2019ve achieved that.\u201d<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t stop there. WEAVE now works with businesses, teaching them how to recognize abuse in their employees.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s changing how people think about their role in ending violence,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because Hassett believes the simple mission of WEAVE \u2014 wholeheartedly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen everyone acts,\u201d she said, \u201cviolence ends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, through it all, Hassett chooses joy, including traveling, kayaking and having wine with friends. She also loves her grandkids, teaching them what healthy love looks like.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow are we going to raise you to know what a healthy relationship is?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a question Hassett said she asks at home, at work and of the broader community, as she continues pushing for safer lives across Sacramento.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to see it through,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd make people safer in their bodies, in their homes, in our streets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hassett never planned to stay this long. But now, two decades later, she never plans to leave. She\u2019s still asking hard questions and believing people can rise \u2014 and showing Sacramento what remarkable leadership looks like.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in it for the long haul.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sacramento nonprofit leader Beth Hassett has been named FOX40\u2019s 2026 Remarkable Woman, recognized for more than two decades…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[93513,93515,121,123,122,93514],"class_list":{"0":"post-201416","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-beth-hassett","9":"tag-hassett","10":"tag-sacramento","11":"tag-sacramento-headlines","12":"tag-sacramento-news","13":"tag-weave"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}