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Jennifer Lake
Jennifer Lake
Jennifer Lake
Jennifer Lake
Listen to this articlePresident & CEO, Goodwill of the Finger Lakes
Years in current role: 5
What was the most significant challenge your organization faced in 2024, and how did you address it?
Goodwill of the Finger Lakes’ workforce is a blend of retail, manufacturing, contact center, human service and administration staff. Like many nonprofits, with limited resources for marketing, our most significant challenge was attracting and retaining qualified talent. As a certified Great Place to Work, we know our greatest asset and differentiator is our team. We’ve reimagined our benefits to reflect their needs including benefits, development opportunities, and appreciation events. At Goodwill, we are dedicated to ensuring a culture that reflects our mission, values and honors talent.
What trends or innovations in your industry do you anticipate having the biggest impact in 2025?
In 2024 alone, our commitment to sustainability kept 27.6 million pounds of useful items in circulation, repurposing them for a second life while also funding valuable programs like 211 Life Line, 988, Goodwill Learning Academy and Goodwill Vision Services. In the coming years, we will continue to partner with innovators who are turning post-consumer items that are broken or no longer wearable into reclaimed raw materials that will create quality jobs across the Finger Lakes region and power a circular American economy. These innovations have incredible potential.
What community initiatives or partnerships are you most excited about engaging with this year?
Goodwill of the Finger Lakes’ mission is “elevating people, community, and planet for a good today and a better tomorrow.” To bring it to life, we actively partner with collective impact initiatives like TogetherNow, RMAPI, and the Climate Collective which allows us to align resources with community organizations and accomplish more together. This work uncovered the need for the Goodwill Learning Academy, and our adult students are mostly referred to us by other organizations. We also need our shoppers and donors because without them there wouldn’t be the resources to enhance these programs.
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This profile is part of our Power 100 list for 2025. Information used in this profile was sourced from the honoree. View the full list at rbj.net. |
