partners
in change
We are a network of leaders committed to building an equitable future.
President and CEO
Jennifer Blatz is the president and CEO of StriveTogether, a national nonprofit working in about 70 communities across the United States to put millions more young people on a path to economic mobility.
Jennifer is a nationally recognized leader and expert in building place-based partnerships to improve outcomes for children, cradle to career. For more than two decades, she has designed, developed and implemented strategies that drive large-scale community improvement through partnership with local leaders and organizations.
At StriveTogether, Jennifer was instrumental in launching the national Cradle to Career Network and creating the StriveTogether Theory of Action™. She led the development of the organization’s current strategic plan with a bold vision: to put 4 million more young people on a path to economic mobility by 2030. Under Jennifer’s leadership, StriveTogether was named a global Social Innovator of the Year by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, an honor she accepted at the 2024 World Economic Forum.
Before leading StriveTogether, Jennifer was a founding member of StrivePartnership, serving Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Through her contributions, StrivePartnership became one of the most notable collective impact initiatives in the country. Jennifer began her career in the education sector. As executive director of Ohio College Access Network, she led a network of community-based programs focused on improving access to and attainment of postsecondary education.
Jennifer’s work has been published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Social Innovations Journal, The Hechinger Report and The 74, among others. She serves as on the boards of Partners for Rural Impact and Raising A Reader, as a LEAP Ambassador and as a member of the Cincinnati Business Courier Leadership Trust.
Jennifer has been named a YWCA of Greater Cincinnati Rising Star and a Cincinnati Business Courier Forty Under 40. She is a graduate of United Way of Greater Cincinnati’s Volunteer Leadership Development Program, the Billions Institute Skid Row School for Large-Scale Change and the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce Women Excel Leadership Program.
hear from jennifer
Share how one of StriveTogether’s core values is important to you.
One of StriveTogether’s core values that speaks to me most powerfully is courage. Not only does the work we do require it, but I believe we must exercise courage to live out all of our other core values. I feel an incredible sense of urgency about the problems we are working to solve for children and families. We cannot and will not be afraid to take risks, speak hard truths and fail forward in pursuit of results for every child.
SEE OTHER TEAM MEMBERS
