JVA helped and inspired social changemakers to succeed, sustain and scale for the past 35 years. A message from Janine Vanderburg.

Until we meet again…

I wanted to thank you for your support over the years.

Earlier this year, we decided to close JVA at the end of June.

Some have asked me why. The headwinds of the pandemic played a part, as did a recognition that this moment calls for community activism and organizing.

I frequently get asked these days (as do many of us): What do you want your legacy to be? The last 35 years of JVA has been, in so many ways. I’m so proud of the work our team has done to:

  • Start, grow and strengthen organizations with missions of social change
  • Build capacity in organizations and leaders
  • Raise billions of dollars for innovative ideas and programs, all in service of making our communities and the world a better place

When I look at Colorado and beyond, I can see our fingerprints in the legacy of leadership our alums are providing in nonprofits, foundations, government, higher education and business, bringing their commitment to changing society for the better.

Before closing, we’ve worked hard to ensure our staff and clients had their needs met and they transitioned to new endeavors. I want to thank our staff who have worked so hard the last few months to ensure the transition would be smooth for our clients. Thank you Aaron Schonhoff, Cynthia Lizano, Erin Gager, Erin Shaver, Kat Wishart, Lisa Cirincione, Marshall Vanderburg, Sandy Wiegand, and Stella Carrasco!

And as a longtime advocate of employee ownership, I’m thrilled to announce that two team members are doing just that:

Lisa Cirincione; for the best grantwriting help available anywhere. I’m thrilled that Lisa, who has raised over $185 million for JVA’s clients, will launch Result$ Grantwriting, LLC July 1. Through Result$, Lisa will help clients develop applications to compete for federal, state and county grant programs, as well as proposals to foundations.

Aaron Schonhoff; for superb data analysis and evaluation. Aaron will be deploying his fabulous data skills at Schonhoff Evaluation & Analytics LLC, focusing on helping clients to leverage existing data and to create and implement the necessary tools needed to both measure their impact on the communities they serve and derive actionable insights.

You’ll find other recent JVA staff members at Denver Indian Center, Girls, Inc., Project Safeguard, Resolution Systems Institute, and consulting.

I would also like to express a heartfelt thank you to all the clients we’ve worked with the past 35 years, many you’ll find scrolling along the bottom of this page. It has been a wonderful opportunity to represent you and forward your initiatives!

In French, there is a difference between adieu (goodbye) and au revoir (goodbye until we meet again). So, au revoir, friends, and thanks for all you do to make the world a better place. It has been my joy to be connected to all of you and your important work.

With much gratitude,

Janine

P.S. I’m not going anywhere. I’m still in Colorado, working to change the narrative about aging and ageism, and plan to reconcentrate efforts on women’s rights. If you’d like to get in touch, you can find me on Twitter or LinkedIn.

As of June 30, 2022 JVA is closed, and we are not longer taking new business. If you have an inquiry, please email us.

Our Clients

Our customers are nonprofits, social enterprises, foundations, government entities, school districts and higher education institutions driven by community and social change. They’re staffed by the type of people about whom Robert Kennedy said: “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why … I dream of things that never were, and ask ‘Why not?’”

“We love working with JVA. They have helped us revamp our grant writing process and helped us secure additional multi-year grants to expand our services. Our success is directly attributable to the professionalism of their staff and the time that they took to truly understand our services so that they can sell it effectively to our funders.”

Harry Budisidharta, Asian Pacific Development Center

“Working with Joining Vision and Action has enabled us to capture critical outcome data to demonstrate the power and value of age-inclusive and intergenerational approaches. Through three years of survey collection, interviews, and site visits, they’ve helped us gather powerful evidence backing why all nonprofits across the country must be giving serious attention and prioritization to efforts connecting the generations.”

Emily Merritt, The Alliance for Strong Families and Communities

ʺWithin several hours of distributing the report we received kudos and an inquiry about one of the items highlighted therein—that speaks volumes! You did a tremendous job!”

Laurel Delmonico, City and County of Denver

“Thank you very much for these great deliverables, and for your diligence in completing this project! It has been a great experience to work with you all and these insights you have collected and communicated are extremely helpful to us. We very much appreciate your time, flexibility, and insights in completing this work. Thanks again and hope to work with you again!”

Darby Hoover, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)