Meet Our Founding Partner

Jen Nelson.: Founding Partner Guiding Good

Discover the journey and passion that led Jen Nelson to establish Guiding Good, a beacon of hope and support for countless missions.

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Jen Nelson

Jen Nelson grew up in Claremont, NH and started her volunteering early – a member of Catholic Daughters, president of Key Club and library assistant in St. Mary and Stevens High School. At Dartmouth College, she joined a co-ed fraternal organization, The Tabard which organized many environmental and community building opportunities. Currently Jen is involved with the Claremont – Sugar River Rotary club, the Claremont Garden Club, and the Claremont Community Media Center.

Particularly during and after the pandemic, Jen noticed the particularly valuable and difficult work a myriad of non-profits in the area, all stepping up to fill needs of our vulnerable populations, sometimes pivoting how services are provided or using new technology on the fly when the need arose.

All this has given Jen the chance to more deeply appreciate the scope and depth of the organizations, dedicated to the service of others. She also realized that there are occasional gaps and struggles within these organizations and groups. Beyond rolling up her sleeves to clean trash or hand out boxes of food – Jen wants to make those organizations more effective and efficient.

Educational and Professional Background

A Foundation of Knowledge and Experience

Jen attended Dartmouth College with early intentions of being a math major on her way to architect. She discovered Psychology and brain science and discovered a deep interest in how individuals learn and store information. This led to a focus on Learning Psychology. While in school, she also participated in community building opportunities through the Tucker Foundation, which aligned students with volunteer opportunities.

After graduating Dartmouth, Jen starting her professional career in the Dartmouth Library system. What started as the Storage Library project manager, led to a position which developed and provided new services, using technology, including online access to library services, training staff, professors and students.
This led to a new path of understanding not only how different audiences and individuals have diverse learning styles but also how the structure of technology can influence it’s success.

Jen went on to other positions at Dartmouth in technical and business training as Director of User Support in the fundraising office for the College and as Assistant Director of Advancement at the Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health. These positions were primarily focused on fundraising, communications with the public and alumni, and developing online tools to support those efforts.

Most recently Jen was at Edward Jones and found the tools and techniques developed for larger groups are often very successful in a one-on-one setting and that project management and change management is needed whenever you are looking at moving from where a client is now to where they want to be.

Jen Nelson's Vision for Guiding Good

Jen Nelson understands the value of investing in staff and in a program can lead to more success and efficiency. She also knows that financial, temporal, and technological resourse at a non-profit are precious commodities. She believes that partnerships between organizations, and pooling resources for greater overall effectiveness can help in the short and long run in our community.

By focusing on sustainable tools and processes, she believes that everyone can benefit in the most efficient way.

Jen Nelson, torso shot

Jen Nelson

When not working, Jen is usually somewhere outside – in the garden working, picking apples, or simply going for a hike. Lately she has been exploring the realm of NH Big Tree project with her husband, Josh.

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