Jenni Luke of Step Up – Empowering Girls to Join the Next Generation of Professional Women

It’s been said that the power of the next generation is rooted in the success of women. We agree and so does Jenni Luke, CEO of Step Up — a not for profit organization that works to propel girls going to school in under-resourced communities to fulfill their potential by empowering them to become confident, college-bound, career-focused, and ready to join the next generation of professional women. Jenni joins Socialfly Co-founder Courtney Spritzer in the MouthMedia Network studios for a conversation about building her company and her journey to success, along with a surprise and a brainstorm. In this episode:

• Why the future of women is now and making sure that people feel they have a seat at the table as their full selves
• How a nonprofit is still a business and getting out there to sustain and grow it
• Generating funds needed by finding the intersection of the value proposition of the organization and what its partners need
• Raising money for a nonprofit and how nonprofits should be profitable
• Jenni on getting involved in the organization nearly ten years ago, originally as a lawyer by trade
• How Step Up is a community-based organization
• Jenni on being a new CEO, applying for her first CEO job, when she was not sure she was qualified, but going for it anyway and falling in love with  the organization during the interview
• Getting buy-in from existing employees and partners
• Working through conflicts with the cofounder to greater success and understanding
• The value of trying not to learn on someone else’s dime
• The breadth of service, number of students, and schools served by the social and emotional-based learning
• What mentorship means
• How the mission of Step Up changed over the years from strengthening resources to  women and girls to focusing energies on girls
• A network of women the girls get to engage with who help them practice the skills they learn