History and description of Positive Force Consulting

         Testifying at a clean energy hearing              Click here to view Jenn's resume. (This is a PDF. You will need Acrobat Reader)

          (Steve Drozell/Fosters Staff photographer)

How it began

As a fresh-faced college student in 1993, Jennifer Hicks, had a desire to bring forth concerns about the environment to both the school and the          

                                                                   surrounding community.  Working with a vibrant group of fellow students, she helped establish a chapter

  of the Student Environmental Action Coalition  (SEAC) at Shippensburg University, still in existence

  today.  Together they lead public education  events, hosted speakers, and held a monthly recycling drive in

  collaboration with town leaders to encourage recycling on campus.

  Not surprisingly, graduating with an elementary education degree Jenn wanted to teach ecology and sought

  a position as an educator with Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  CBF gave her the opportunity to design

  innovative lessons that directly connected the classroom with the Bay and created three-day experience

  that embraced the stewardship philosophy:  You must love the Bay to save the Bay.  

Happy students at CBF's education center      Every student made a physical connection to a part of the eco-system on her trips  (constructing a habitat    

                                                                  in the marsh, making "mud angels", or "adopting" an oyster as a pet!), and every student took an action to protect the Bay (participating in an oyster restoration project, writing letters to their elected officials). Jenn saw positive changes in every child who left her program.

Later, she became a volunteer coordinator and developed and lead several dozen community-based habitat restoration projects (tree planting, wetland grass planting, oyster restoration), established over 50 miles of riparian buffers, planted several acres of

wetlands, and engaged hundreds of volunteers in active Bay restoration.  In addition, she contributed to the development of the CBF habitat restoration field guide.                            

Click here to see sample work with CBF.

Shifting direction

                                                                                                                                                                                                                             T ree planting on the Choptank River, MD

In 1999, Jenn entered the Environmental Studies program at Antioch New England Graduate School

primarily to learn in detail how small environmental non profits can operate sustainably.  Click here to see a listing of her program courses and work samples.

During that time, she provided project support for Antioch New England Institute, an innovative consulting organization housed on campus.  This provided a significant experience with effective group facilitation, community decision-making, and group capacity-building.

Following graduation Jenn became the executive director for the Seacoast Anti-  Pollution League in Portsmouth, NH. She immediately applied her past work experience and recent skills

obtained at Antioch to address the issue of   safety and security at the the area's nuclear power plant,

fossil fuel power plant, and shipyard. 

   Facilitating at  Vision-to-Action workshop          

           (Michael Moore/Keene Sentinel Staff photographer)

See news articles and work samples as SAPL director.  

Other organizations with whom she lead campaigns and built capacity: Clean Water Action, Seacoast Living Wage Campaign, Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

Starting Positive Force Consulting

Emerging from Jenn's rich job experiences and graduate work is a capacity-building skill set found to be incredibly valuable to the small non-profits she supported. Whether organizing community forums, developing high quality event flyers, or providing basic computer training Jenn offers necessary organizational                                   Nuclear safety panel discussion

development for small non profits.                                                                                                                      

 Now she wants to provide objective, professional support for your grassroots non-profit. Click here to view her resume and contact Jenn to find out more about her exciting service.