Jennifer Amstutz founded J.A. Strategies in June 2006. Jennifer started her career working on early childhood and youth welfare policy and funding, in positions with the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Human Resources, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Family Service America (now Alliance for Children and Families). In her Washington positions, Jennifer worked on the Child Care and Development Block Grant, Head Start, the Child Welfare Waiver Demonstration program, and reform of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (now TANF). In New York and the Capital Region, she has spent more than 10 years in nonprofit management positions, overseeing fund development, budgets and programs, and supervising and training more than 30 staff: as Executive Director of the Albany Girls Club, and then as V.P. for Program Development at Girls Incorporated of the Greater Capital Region after helping to facilitate the merger of the two organizations. Fundraising focused staff positions have included Development Coordinator for the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Interim V.P. for Fund Development and most recently Interim President/CEO of Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region.
J.A. Strategies has consulted with organizations such as the Albany Law School, National Association of Social Workers -- NYS Chapter, the Albany Public Library, the Center for Human Services Research – SUNY Albany, Honest Weight Food Co-op, and Albany Pro Musica, to facilitate Board Strategic Planning, Staff Business and Organizational Planning, and Staff Trainings and Retreats.
In addition to her professional work, Jennifer has considerable experience working with nonprofits in a volunteer capacity. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Albany Academies, as Chair of the Governance Committee, and as a board member for Girls on the Run Capital Region. She has served as the President of the Albany Pro Musica Board of Directors and the Presidentt of the Albany Academies’ Parents Association.
Jennifer has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration (M.P.A.) from New York University; her concentration in Public and Nonprofit Management included coursework in human resources management, financial management and accounting, program evaluation, and organizational development. She holds a B.A. from Duke University in Political Science and Comparative International Studies.
Jennifer has completed numerous professional workshops and trainings in staff development, training, fundraising and group facilitation. Jennifer is also a trained adventure programmer. She believes strongly in the benefit of experiential learning in staff and organizational development processes and training. Jennifer completed the American Society of Training and Development’s “Facilitating Organizational Change” certificate program in January 2007.
J.A. Strategies, LLC, is a NYS Certified Woman-Owned Business and a member of the Consulting Alliance.