Jennifer Deng-Pickett

Jennifer Deng-Pickett is a vice president at Collaborative Communications Group. She is responsible for leading our business and strategically improving the work of our clients around community engagement, facilitation, strategic planning, partnership and resource development. She works with clients to build the capacity of community members to be the leaders, facilitators and conveners of community discussions related to advancing the quality of life and creating innovative community-driven solutions for youth, families and communities.

Jennifer is actively working with United Way Worldwide and the National Academy Foundation. She has also worked to spearhead the Newark Local Education Fund (LEF) with the Prudential Foundation. In addition, she wrote the Denver Public School’s Investing in Innovation grant application that won $25 million over five years from the U.S. Department of Education. Jennifer recently created an engagement and communications framework that assists the firm and our clients think about their community work in strategic alignment with their organizational goals.

Jennifer joined Collaborative after years of working in the nonprofit sector, most recently as the Director of the D.C. Language Access Coalition, a Washington, D.C. organization that monitors civil rights compliance for non-English speaking immigrants in D.C. At the D.C. Language Access Coalition, Jennifer provided executive leadership to an organization engaged in policy advocacy, grassroots organizing, facilitation, foundation fundraising and leadership development. Her leadership was exemplified in promoting and strengthening collaboration, co-creating and executing strategic vision amongst diverse stakeholders.

Other professional experiences include serving as the Maryland program manager at Asian American LEAD (Leadership, Empowerment and Development), the events and communications manager for the Leadership for a Changing World program at the Advocacy Institute, a Spanish teacher at Bladensburg High School, a consultant to the Institute for Sustainable Communities and a legal assistant at Vinson & Elkins, LLP.

Jennifer has travelled extensively for professional and educational purposes. She has spent time living in Latin America, Europe and Asia and is proficient in Spanish and Mandarin, Chinese. Her travels and international work experiences have given her a high degree of cultural sensitivity and adaptability.

Jennifer holds a Master's degree in business administration from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, a Master's degree in peace and development studies from the University of Limerick in Limerick, Ireland, and Bachelor's degrees in international studies and Spanish from Austin College in Sherman, TX.

Employer:	Collaborative Communications Group
Position:	Vice President
Time period:	December 2009 - Present
Description:	Vice President of Organizational Effectiveness

Employer:	DC Language Access Coalition, www.dclanguageaccess.org, Washington, DC
Position:	Director
Time period:	December 2006 - December 2009
Description:	- Increased revenues and staffing 300% in two years. - Develop community education and empowerment, legal advocacy and democracy engagement strategies for new immigrant communities - Created organization vision and strategy and executing innovative strategies to support the organization’s mission with the collaboration of 26 immigrant serving, community based coalition members. - Collaborate with local government officials from but not limited to D.C. Office of Human Rights, Office of African Affairs, Office of Asian Pacific Islander Affairs, Office of Latino Affairs, and D.C. City Council. - Comprehensive knowledge of central civil rights issues facing immigrants and closely networked to the key language access and immigrants rights advocates in the USA. - Represents the Coalition in non-profit, government, civil rights, language access, and funding communities and conferences to build partnerships, identify synergies, generate awareness and share knowledge in the work

Employer:	Asian American Lead, www.aalead.org, Washington, DC
Position:	Maryland Program Manager
Time period:	March 2006 - December 2006
Description:	- Manage expansion of AALEAD services into Montgomery County, MD. - Hiring and supervision of staff and interns. - Conduct focus groups and liaise with a spectrum of education stakeholders to provide holistic support for low-income, immigrant youth and families. - Develop and facilitated AALEAD’s first tutor training for volunteer tutors in MD. - Wrote press releases, fielded media calls and conducted interviews. - Designed and facilitated a 6-week internal culture and values definition process for the organization.

Employer:	Asia Pacific Initiative (now known as The Asia America Initiative) www.asiaamerica.org, Washington, DC
Position:	Program and Operations Consultant
Time period:	April 2004 - August 2004
Description:	- Strategic planning and organizational development for emerging nonprofit. - Created systems for evaluation, sustainability, and anti-corruption components of Development for Peace in Sulu (DPIS) – an international development project in the Philippines funded by USAID.

Employer:	Advocacy Institute, www.advocacy.org and www.leadershipforchange.org, Washington, DC
Position:	Events and Communications Manager and Program Consultant
Time period:	February 2004 - November 2007
Description:	- Managed staff, consultants and $850,000/year budget for the Leadership for a Changing World (LCW) program. - Co-designed and facilitated programs. - Created and maintained an extensive network and learned best practices from over 150 of the most innovative and effective social justice advocates in the United States. - Trained Advocacy Institute tools on policy advocacy, strategic planning, and online advocacy for LCW programs. - Created communication and media strategies. - Co-developed and facilitated an intergenerational and community dialogues project for the Ford Foundation. - Contributed to internal strategic planning processes.

Employer:	Bladensburgn High School, www.pgcps.org/~blade/
Position:	High School Spanish One Teacher, Graduate of Prince George’s County Resident Teachers Program, www.residentteacherprogram.org
Time period:	May 2002 - July 2003

Employer:	Roo Relief and Youth Unbound for Central America, Sherman, TX and Nicaragua
Position:	Co-Founder and Operations Director
Time period:	October 1998 - July 1999
Description:	- Founded and led a volunteer initiative to Nicaragua after Hurricane Mitch. - Fundraised over $10,000 and one ton of donated medical supplies via grassroots mobilization in North Texas. - Coordinated media coverage of international student-led relief teams in Managua and Posoltega - Created internships for Austin College students at local NGOs in Nicaragua. - Fieldwork conducted at Centro Pro-Desarrollo in Managua, Comisión de Justicia y Paz in León, Fundación Pro-Familia y Mujeres y La Niñez in Ocotal, and Save the Children in Ranchería.

Employer:	R.F.K. Memorial Center for Human Rights, www.rfkmemorial.org/chr, Washington, DC
Position:	Research Intern
Time period:	May 1997 - July 1997
Description:	- Prepared materials for selection of the annual Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award.

Employer:	Amnesty International, www.amnesty.org & www.aitaiwan.org.tw, Taipei, Taiwan
Position:	Outreach Coordinator and Office Intern, Recipient of Patrick Stewart Human Rights Award
Time period:	May 1995 - July 1995
Description:	- Organized letter writing campaigns in Taipei. - Created education materials on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for local politicians and media.

University:	University of Maryland System
Time period:	2009
Degree:	Strategy, Innovation and Emerging Markets Focus, MBA

University:	University of Limerick
Time period:	2001
Degree:	Peace and Development Studies, MA

University:	Austin College
Time period:	1999
Degree:	International Studies and Spanish, BA

Sports:	Soccer, Roller Derby, Adventure Racing, Biking, Hiking, Rock Climbing
Hobbies:	Piano, Movies, Social Media
Memberships:	- Appointed of the Montgomery County’s Mid-County Citizen’s Advisory Board (MCCAB) - Chair of the Quality of Life Committee. - Nonprofit Leadership Institute member of the Carl Freeman Foundation and Montgomery College - Community Leadership Institute Member of the Transportation Planning Board of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments - Co-Chair of the D.C. Joint Advisory Council (JAC). JAC works to achieve equity and academic excellence for all linguistically and culturally diverse students and families in the public schools of the District of Columbia.
Awards:	Austin College Alumni of the Decade awarded in 2008.