Thank you, Janice

After 22 years, Janice Jensen has made the decision to retire as Habitat East Bay/Silicon Valley's President and Chief Executive Officer. While our Board of Directors has engaged an executive search firm to identify our next leader—and Janice will remain on board until a smooth and mindful transition can be completed—we cannot begin to quantify what her stewardship has meant for Habitat.

But, we can try! In our 40-year history, we have served over 25,000 people; 86% of those people we have served under Janice's leadership! She shepherded our affiliate through two mergers and grew our capacity so that we could serve more people in more ways. During Janice's tenure, we've pushed the envelope on combining affordability with sustainability in order to build homes that are healthier for their families and for our planet. We've ventured into higher density building and transit-oriented development. We've diversified the ways we serve so that we can take on the homeownership crisis in a more holistic way—adding home repairs and financial education to our capabilities. We've done community-centered contracting that broadens our impact through partnerships with other agencies. We've become an influential force in public policy at the local, state, and federal levels. We've grown to be one of the largest investors in Habitat's international work. 

Those are just the highlights. The fact is, the mark Janice has made on Habitat is tough to boil down to a few achievements. 

Janice stepped into her role in January 2005, but her Habitat story started more than ten years prior. In classic Habitat fashion, it began on a construction site, where Janice was building Habitat homes in Mendenhall, Mississippi. At the time, she'd had ample experience working in healthcare; she figured she knew well the impact of housing. She had a lot to learn. In addition to some sore muscles, Janice took something else away from that experience: "Habitat really peeled back the layers of the impact of insecure housing on human beings, especially kids," she says. Her time on site made the issue of housing something inescapably concrete—and witnessing up close the stark inequalities in access made the issue a moral imperative.

That first Habitat build stayed with her as she came to work with us. Combined with her years of nonprofit management and executive experience, Janice's passion for the Habitat mission was channeled into making the organization efficient, financially strong, and forward-looking. She remembers having to scale a steep learning curve at the outset. "We literally rolled out a long sheet of butcher paper and wrote out a timeline of what it takes to build a Habitat home," she says. "I was stunned." 

She didn't remain stunned for long. She poured herself into strengthening our team, identifying our opportunities, building partnerships, and setting an ambitious vision—with the fundamentals to make it a reality. And for 22 years, we have benefited from that guidance.

Of the ways in which we've grown and served, Janice says she is "deeply proud. One thing about me as a human is that I follow my true north, and that true north is service. I consider myself very lucky to have been able to create a career around service to people." As gratifying to her, though, is "the team and the community we've built. It's what gives me confidence in what comes next. I know that we are ready for a new leader to carry this mission forward."

Though Habitat faces the future with strength, we are forever indebted to Janice for her 22 years of committed service. Thank you, Janice, for your tenacity, for your wisdom, and for your heart.