Our work here in the community is all about effecting change. jdcPartnerships helps organizations access, synthesize and make sense of information. People can use this to effect social change.
— Kim Mazzuca, President, Marin Education Fund

Jara Dean-Coffey

Our Team

Jara Dean-Coffey, MPH
Founder and Principal

For more than 15 years Jara has designed and implemented processes and tools that integrate strategic thinking with evaluative inquiry to support organizations in building their adaptive capacity and enhancing their mission-related impact. Her clients include social, philanthropic and public sector organizations of all sizes—from ones with annual budgets of $250,000 upward to those with revenues of $1 billion.

Throughout her career, Jara has worked with the leadership of public agencies, foundations and social sector organizations as well as with elected and appointed officials to navigate the territory of information, impact and decision-making. In her roles as advisor, consultant and team leader, Jara focuses on the importance of strengthening the infrastructure of her clients’ organizations so that their missions remain the guiding framework for decision-making. She also brings an understanding of the nuances, politics and human dynamics that influence decision-making. She creates a safe environment for her clients to acknowledge and explore their reality.

Jara is a frequent workshop leader and conference presenter on topics ranging from logic modeling to theories of change to stages of organizational change to system change. She leads experiential learning sessions on these and other topics for clusters of grantees, as well as for groups composed of leaders of social sector and philanthropic organizations.

Jara holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of California, Berkeley; a BA in Communications and Political Science from Temple University; and a certificate in Organizational Development and Evaluation from Fielding Graduate University. She also serves on the Board of a supporting organization of the Marin Community Foundation, where she has chaired the Program Committee and currently sits on the Executive Committee as the Secretary.

Join the dialogue on Twitter. Read Jara’s blog, To What End?