Jennifer Henderson is CEO and co-founder of Strategic Decisions, LLC, a twenty-two year-old organizational management and leadership development consulting firm based in Henderson, Nevada. The firm is dedicated to advancing progressive social change through building the long-term capacity of organizations and expanding the skills and acumen of leadership. She is an experienced and nationally-recognized facilitator,technical assistance provider, and executive coach to nonprofit, for-profit, government and academic institutions and leaders. Jennifer’s areas of focus are strategic planning and thinking, organizational transitions and transformation, innovative program design,coalition building, diversity/inclusion processes, sustainable community development,and organizational capacity building.

 

Before founding Strategic Decisions, LLC, Jennifer spent ten years leading a statewide grassroots advocacy organization in North Carolina and then fifteen years working with scores of local, state and national community development organizations as Director ofTraining and Leadership Development at the Center for Community Change inWashington, DC. During her tenure, Jennifer designed and facilitated the Center’s leadership and management initiative, The Community Change Agents Project. This Kellogg Foundation-funded project expanded the skills and knowledge of nearly 100executive directors, deputy directors and senior staff of nonprofit organizations across the nation.

 

Jennifer has worked with civic and Non-Governmental Organizations on issue campaigns and development projects in the United States, France, South Africa and the NewlyIndependent States of Eastern Europe.  She has served as lead consultant to the public and private redevelopment efforts in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Support for civic engagement initiatives has included place-based organizational capacity building for grantees of The Ford Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. In addition, Jennifer has advised redevelopment agencies in Los Angeles, New Orleans and Arlington, VA.

 

Jennifer is the creator of a holistic approach to organizational development, “The Fusion Model”, which employs an examination of the core business, back office and contextual factors to achieve organizational effectiveness. This approach is the basis for Jennifer’s practice, consultations, and the development of a series of user-friendly tools. The Fusion Model has been promoted by a number of foundations including the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation who has chosen the model to design its organizational development resources to grantees.

 

Jennifer is an advocate and advisor to progressive businesses. Since 1996, Jennifer has been a member of the board of the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Company and served for seven years as chair of the board. She is active in the growing field of social ventures and enterprises. Jennifer served as the first chair of Sweet Beginnings, LLC, a Chicago-based personal products company which trains and employs formerly incarcerated and economically-marginalized people. Jennifer currently serves on the advisory board of a national alternative energy company, Imani Energy which provides low-cost solar energy to urban-based organizations and businesses while training and employing unemployed youth.