One-Line Bio

Jean Butzen is a former nonprofit CEO who now uses her 30+ years of experience to offer consulting -- and to publish this blog -- on values-driven mergers, partnerships, and management for nonprofits.

Biography

Jean M. Butzen
Mission Plus Strategy
847-866-0197
jeanbutzen@gmail.com

I have been a leader in the nonprofit sector for more than twenty-five years, having worked in community organizing and development, nonprofit supportive housing, and homeless and affordable housing policy.

I became the founding CEO of Lakefront Supportive Housing in 1986. At Lakefront, I took a brand new nonprofit and made it into the largest supportive housing provider in the Midwest, with 1,000 units of housing and services for homeless adults and families in four Chicago neighborhoods, an annual combined budget of $16M, assets worth $60M, and a staff of 200 people.

In 2005, after analyzing the funding environment for nonprofits like Lakefront, I initiated and led a merger of the organization with the nationally acclaimed Mercy Housing, Inc., based in Denver (downloadable Word document), which resulted in expanding Lakefront's premier supportive housing model into the Mercy network of 16 offices around the country.

In 2006, I launched a management and strategic consulting practice, now called Mission Plus Strategy.  I focus on alternative business strategies for nonprofits such as mergers, partnerships, collaborations, and earned-income methods for delivering social value.

I am particularly interested and skilled in the areas of start-ups, crisis resolution, and value-driven management, leadership, and decision making.

Most of all, I believe that Mission + Strategy = Social Value, and that nonprofit business strategy is underutilized in achieving mission.  I hope to help change that with this blog and with my work in consulting.

Here are links to pages about my consulting capabilities, a list of clients and some testimonials, and media coverage.

Awards + Recognition
+  Chicago Sun-Times series, “100 Most Influential Women in Chicago,” Named "Fourth Most Powerful Woman in the Nonprofit Sector,” 2004
+  Harvard Business School Club of Chicago, fellowship to the HBS forum Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management, July 2004
+  Leadership Greater Chicago, 2001 Distinguished Fellow and Fellow, Class of 1995
+  Arthur Morgan Award, Antioch College Alumni Association, 2000
+  Outstanding Achievement Award for Community Leadership, YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago, 1994
+  40 Under 40 Award, Crain’s Chicago Business, 1992
+  The Chicago Network

Board Memberships
+  The Corporation for Supportive Housing, national board
+  The National Alliance to End Homelessness
+  The Chicago Continuum of Care +  Governor Blagojevich’s Affordable Housing Task Force

Affiliations
+  Association of Consultants to Nonprofits
+  Associate Member, Donors Forum

Education
+  Kellogg Management Institute, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, certificate 2005
+  Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, B. A. Political Science, 1979
+  St. Scholastica High School, Chicago, Illinois, 1975

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