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Jessica Partnow

Jessica Partnow

I am a skilled interim executive director who loves to help organizations build culture, systems, and policies aligned with their deeply held values. I believe in building deep trust throughout all levels of an organization through clear communication, transparency, and collaboration. I am an entrepreneurial leader who thrives in moments of change, helping organizations find their next steps.

Seattle, WA 98122-4814

Contact

Expertise

Facilitation

  • Board meetings/retreats

Interim Management

  • Interim executive director/CEO
  • Other interim

Management & Operations

  • Administration
  • Operating policies/procedures
  • Operations management
  • Organizational analysis

Planning & Organizational Development

  • Business plans
  • Earned income/social enterprise
  • Mission & vision development
  • Organizational development
  • Program development
  • Starting a nonprofit
  • Strategic planning

Technology

  • CRM/database systems consulting
  • Fundraising software consulting
  • Technology planning
  • Technology training
  • Website maintenance

About Jessica Partnow

Hi! I’m Jessica Partnow, a nonprofit leader, educator, and former international public radio journalist. I was the founding executive director of The Seattle Globalist, a nonprofit media organization dedicated to elevating diverse voices through media. I earned my MBA with a focus on leadership, and I now bring that education and my nearly twenty years in the nonprofit sector to consulting work with small and growing organizations. Throughout my career, I have worked with dozens of small nonprofits on corporate formation, organizational structure, board development, strategic planning, mission and vision development, program planning, operations, fundraising, and communications.

I specialize in interim leadership and leadership transitions for small nonprofit organizations. I love working with staff and boards on strategy, operations, organizational development, and fundraising. My goal is always to help teams find solutions that fit their values and their budgets.

I work under the assumption that US society, and thus our institutions, were designed to enforce a hierarchy of power along lines of difference, including race, ability, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship, immigration status, religion and more. I see an important part of my role as working to challenge the power structures of the status quo. I seek to create liberating structures and norms in my work as an educator, a journalist, and as an organizational consultant.

I approach my work as a collaborator and as an educator. I am self-taught in many ways, and have learned that especially for women, people of color, and members of other marginalized groups there can be a tendency to underestimate or invisibilize your own skills and knowledge – particularly when those skills have been learned “on the job.”

Areas of Expertise
Communication Strategy | Values-Driven Policy and Planning | Workflow and Process Improvement | Staffing Structure | Recruiting, Training, and Onboarding | People Management | Technology Platform Selection, Optimization, Implementation | Finance & Budgeting | Media Production | Storytelling | Education and Training | Board Development and Training | Administrative Systems | Executive & Staffing Search | Organizational Transformation | Change Management

Background Info.

Subsector Experience

  • Arts and culture
  • Children, youth, and families
  • Immigrant and refugee
  • International NGO/ Nonprofit
  • Small grassroots organizations

Fee Structure

  • By project
  • Hourly rate
  • Installments based on project schedule

Professional Affiliations / Licenses

  • Association of Independents in Radio
  • Global Leadership Forum
  • Interim Executives Academy

County Availability

  • King
  • Nationwide

County Experience

  • King