👋🏼 Nice to meet you
Hi, new friend! I’m Jen, and I support nonprofits and other community-serving clients to develop or strengthen cause-based communications, marketing, and community-building efforts through thought partnership, training, technical assistance, and advisory services.
In addition to a limited number of one-to-one client engagements, I offer a growing suite of self-paced, do-it-yourself training materials and planning guides, and am the founder of Comms For Causes, an online learning hub and strategy lab designed for mission-driven changemakers.
💓 Values that guide my work
Since launching my business in 2012, these values have emerged as cornerstones of my practice
- INTEGRITY: work where you are invited + add value; be known for the quality of your work and a commitment to honest, ethical, and progressive practices; acknowledge any mistakes swiftly + without hesitation
- AUTHENTICITY: always bring your whole-self to the table; vulnerability + candor are gifts and strengths; your approach won’t be for everyone and that’s okay–but for those who stick around, you’ll achieve more meaningful transformations, together
- CONNECTION: put people first; be relational vs. transactional; apply a collective lens; cultivate community care
- REFLECTION: test, iterate, learn; approach the familiar with a beginners mind; strive to maintain a growth mindset; fail forward
- PURPOSE: be a good human; embrace your purpose-driven tendencies; in the end it’s all about changing the world, for good
🌱 Always learning
The products and services I offer are informed by a rich array of personal and professional development spanning numerous disciplines, as well as formal education and lived experiences–including what I learn from the clients + communities I partner with each year.
Nonprofits
- Certified Volunteer Administrator (CVA), CCVA
- Certificate of Nonprofit Board Consulting, BoardSource
- Nonprofit Technology Professional Certificate, NTEN
- Certificate in Nonprofit Management, Kapiolani Community College
Other
- Evernote Certified Expert
- Coaching Essentials, Leadership that Works
- Certified Interpretive Guide, National Association for Interpretation
- ALS Clinical Research Learning Institute® (CRLI), NEALS
Digital Marketing
- Professional Certified Marketer® – Digital Marketing, American Marketing Association + Certified Digital Marketing Professional, DMI
- Facebook Certified Community Manager
- Social Media Marketing Certification, Hootsuite
Formal Education
- Master of Business Administration (MBA), University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
- Master of Environmental Management (MEM), Duke University
- BA (English), Colorado College
Notable professional + public service and recognition
Over the past three decades, I’ve served on dozens of community advisory groups, planning teams, and boards–at local, regional, and international scales. The sampling below includes a few of my favorite + most notable experiences
🌏 Global Steering Committee, IUCN Commission on Education and Communication
Enjoyed the great privilege of serving on this global team in the lead-up to the IUCN’s 2016 World Conservation Conference
🌊 Board Member, Friends of Midway Atoll (FOMA) National Wildlife Refuge
FOMA plays a pivotal role in the conservation and restoration of Midway’s natural and historic resources
🌳 Advisory Council, State of Hawai‘i Urban & Community Forestry Program
As a member and Chair, provided strategic guidance for an array of community forestry initiatives across the state
🏆 Award Sponsor, Shidler College of Business
Since 2017, proud sponsor of an award in entrepreneurship ($1,500) at the college’s annual Business Night event
🌺 Leadership Circle, Hawaii Community Benefit Consultants
Member of a shared leadership team stewarding a regional association of community-serving consultants
⚕️ ALS Research Ambassador®, Northeast ALS Consortium
Helping to move the field of ALS research advocacy forward through outreach to clinicians, press, policymakers, and others
🦸🏽♀️ WWMB Award Winner
Recognized as one of 37 honorees at Pacific Business News’ 2023 Women Who Mean Business awards event
👏🏽 Forty Under 40
Acknowledged as one of Hawai‘i’s best and brightest young business leaders at PBN’s 2011 Forty Under 40 awards
🌟 Pacific Century Fellow
Selected for an esteemed fellowship that encourages deeper civic engagement and service to create a better Hawaii
💝 ALS spouse + caregiver
Just a few months after we were married, my husband José A. Fajardo was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). We live in Honolulu, Hawai‘i where José continues to work as the President and General Manager of Hawai‘i Public Radio.
ALS is cruel disease for which there is (yet) no cure. People living with ALS lose their ability to move, eat, speak, and breathe over a period of months or years. Disease progression is unpredictable and extremely heterogenous.
Navigating the new + unexpected role of caregiver has directly informed the direction of my business and strengthened my commitment to support cause-driven changemakers.