From Terp ChangeMaker To National Change Maker

When Jenna Gebel (UG ’10) and I began our phone interview for this quarter’s CSVC newsletter, I thought we would start with her work at Goodwill Industries International (GII). Jenna quickly assured me that the most appropriate place to begin was with her experiences at Maryland and with the Center for Social Value Creation.

“I was a marketing and international business major, but even going into the end of my junior year I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. Then that summer I worked at GlobalGiving, which got me more interested in corporate philanthropy, non-profit development, and overall made me more interested in social impact work.”

During her senior year, Jenna joined the Ashoka Terps ChangeMakers team and ended up leading the organizational charge to put together the 2010 Social Enterprise Symposium. She called that experience, which attracted over 500 participants and featured a keynote from future CSVC Chairman of the Board Stanley Litow, a “good learning experience, especially functionally with managing a team, booking speakers, and making sure everything ran to plan.”

Through Jenna’s participation in ChangeMakers, she was able to attend an Ashoka conference and strike up a conversation with an executive from Goodwill®. This eventually led to an interest in the company and ultimately to her first position at GII as a National Family Support Program Assistant. In that role, she primarily worked on financial capability initiatives, with particular emphasis on the role of the Earned Income Tax Credit, work supports, and microenterprise. Thanks to her social entrepreneurship experiences in college, Jenna developed a microenterprise toolkit so Goodwill agencies could help individuals who have low incomes and persons with disabilities start their own small businesses.

I told her that I admittedly, like most of America, only thought of Goodwill as a franchised network of thrift stores. She laughed.

“Goodwill is much more than thrift stores — we are one of the leading nonprofit providers of employment. Goodwill is a social enterprise comprised of 165 independent Goodwill agencies in the United States and Canada with 14 international affiliates in 13 other countries. Each of those agencies operates the stores and donation centers within its local territory and customizes its job training programs to meet the needs of local communities. Donated goods sold in the more than 2,500 stores generate revenue that helps us fund job training programs and other social services.”

In 2010, Goodwill Industries International made four billion dollars a year in revenue, and Jenna told me that 84% of that money support Goodwill’s mission of providing job training and support services. “I’d say the organization is one of the pioneers of social enterprise, before that was even a buzz word.”

I asked Jenna whether revenue had taken a hit in the recent recession, as it has for so many non-profits struggling to make their donor dollars.

“It’s the opposite, really. In a recession, people are more likely to shop at thrift stores when they are looking to get a good bargain. With the unemployment rate, people are also looking to utilize the job training programs that Goodwill has been able to develop over the years. Goodwill has done very well in the recession because their services have been needed now more than ever.”

Jenna recently switched positions within the organization and is now National Resource Development Specialist where she focuses on national private and public grants. She also helps train local Goodwill agencies to better improve their fundraising and resource development work through webinars and other seminars. On top of that, she continues contributing to the international Goodwill “GoodLife Blog.” Her most recent articles include explanations of public benefits as well as tax day tips for maximizing your refund. And if that wasn’t enough, being a young rising star at such a prominent organization doesn’t come without some celebrity status— Jenna also told me she was featured in a YouTube marketing campaign for Goodwill’s Donate Movement .

On the lighter side of things, Jenna is a New Jersey native and is currently living in Washington, DC. She’s a ferocious reader, yogi, runner, and compulsive traveler. In addition to her work at Goodwill, she also is very active in the D.C. social impact community. She has been involved in organizations like Compass Partners, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), and Starting Bloc.

“Melissa is the best,” she told me in closing. “I really enjoyed getting involved in the Center, it opened up so many opportunities for me.” Keep making us proud, Jenna, and good luck! -GO