Running head: Agency Report

Agency Report
Jefferson Awards Foundation
Renee R. Horn
Wilmington University

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Mission
Jefferson Awards Foundations (JAF) is all about powering those who change the world.
Their mission is to power others to have maximum impact on the things they care about most.
Through celebration, JAF inspires action. JAFs programs and partnerships drive Americans to
change their communities and the world (Jefferson Awards Foundation, 2016).
Programs
JAF has five programs; LEAD360, Students In Action, GlobeChangers, Champions, and
Media Partners. LEAD360 seeks outstanding youth public service ideas and replicates the best
nationwide (Jefferson Awards Foundation, 2016). This program is the largest youth service
competition in the country. The contest gives youth the opportunity to be recognized locally and
nationally for doing something great to make a difference in our country.
Students In Action (SIA) drive teenagers to become leaders in their schools and
communities. The program empowers students to think big, choose their own public service
passion, engage their entire school and broader communities, and create maximum impact
(Jefferson Awards Foundation, 2016). Based on the service projects students complete in SIA,
they are able to submit those projects to LEAD360.
GlobeChangers mentors and trains young social entrepreneurs. This program identifies
young Americans, ages 5-25, with big ideas. Through training and mentorship, GlobeChangers
helps translate their big idea to change the world into national or global service projects. These
young entrepreneurs learn lifelong leadership and entrepreneurial skills, which helps assist in
college admission and open future job opportunities (Jefferson Awards Foundation, 2016).
Champions are organizations that partner with JAF to engage in public service and
celebrate their communities with Jefferson Awards. This program offers organizations a unique
platform for recognition and encourages community involvement. This program has reached
6,400,000 employees (Jefferson Awards Foundation, 2016).
Lastly, Media Partners is news outlets that celebrate unsung heroes in their communities
with Jefferson Awards (Jefferson Awards Foundation, 2016). Local television stations tell the

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stories about people (unsung heroes) who have done extraordinary public service projects. These
television stations recognize the people who are trying to make a difference in their community.
Demographic Information
JAF targets anyone within the United States of America who want to make a difference in
his/her community. Any American citizen, organization, business, corporation, and/or school
that wants to make a difference in the world, then they are able to get involved within JAF.
Policies and Procedures
JAF has a thick binder full of policies and procedures. The employee manual goes over
the pay policies, confidentiality policy, workplace policies, safety in the workplace, child
protection and code of conduct, on the job policies, hiring policies, time off and leave policies,
IT policies, travel and expense policies, performance and development policies, and benefits.
The pay policies just go over when employees get paid and how to sign up for direct deposit. It
just goes over the basics.
Confidentiality policy is to let employees and interns know that certain information
within the organization is confidential. Employees and interns are prohibited from giving out
personal information about JAF or our contacts.
Workplace policies go over the basics of being timely, dressing comfortably and
professionally, and cell phone use. You are able to use your cell phone when necessary, as long as
you do not take advantage of the privilege. You are expected to get all work done in a timely
manner and fulfill all responsibilities. Safety in the workplace goes over the procedures in case
of an emergency.
Child protection and code of conduct are all about being a mandated reporter. All
employees within JAF have mandated reporters and required to report if a child is in a dangerous
or harmful situation. Hiring policies just goes over the hiring process. First, you are interviewed
and if offered the job, then you need to pass a background test and drug test. There is work paper
that needs to be completed and training.

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Time off and leave policies talks about when and how you report if you need time off or
need to take an absence of leave. This section also goes over the JAF calendar when you are not
required to work. Lastly, Time off and leave policies consist of how many days you can take off
and the consequences if you do not follow JAFs policies. IT policies state that there is no
personal use of the computers or telephones. We have the internet for business use only.
Travel and expense policies explain that all employees will be reimbursed for any
business related travel expenses. For example, every time I drive to different locations for
meetings and presentations related to my internship, then I am reimbursed based on the mileage
driven. I am required to fill out an expense report by the end of each month in order to be
reimbursed. The report has to be signed by my supervisor and the director of finance, operations,
and events.
Performance and development policies state that all employees are to perform at a high
level and they will be evaluated every year based off if they reached their goals or not. JAF is a
huge goal-based and deadline-driven organization. Lastly, benefits talks about all of the different
benefits employees receive as full-time staff. They have health insurance, retirement plans, and
vacation days.
Structure

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Below is JAFs organizational chart:

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I have the opportunity of working with the president and co-founder of Jefferson Awards
Foundation, Sam Beard and I have the national director of Delaware and Central Florida,
Michele Fidance as my supervisor. The National director of Media Partners and National
Ceremonies, Margaret Nasta, works in the office across from me and is a huge help. Also, I work
with the Director of Finance, Operations & Events, Jayme Mitchel. She is the one who signs the
checks. Lastly, there are two new staff members, who are not on the chart, which I work with.
Deb Piper works in development and Mallory Stratton is the new program manager. JAF has 27
employees nationally, which I was very surprised. I thought they would have way more
employees since they are a national organization.
Governance

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JAF governance covers conflict of interest policy, record retention & destruction policy,
donor privacy policy, fair work & anti-discrimination policies, personnel committee charter, and
whistleblower policy (Jefferson Awards Foundations, 2016).
The conflict of interest policy also known as JAFs code of ethics states that employees
must never use their positions with JAF for private gain, to advance personal interests or to
obtain favors or benefits for themselves or family and friends. JAFs most valuable asset is
integrity (Jefferson Awards Foundation, 2016).
The record retention & destruction policy covers all records and documents, regardless of
physical form, contains guidelines for how long certain documents should be kept and how
records should be destroyed. This policy shows a chart of record types and their retention period
(Jefferson Awards Foundation, 2016).
The donor privacy policy is all about respecting the privacy of donors. Donor's personal
information is not allowed to be sold, rented, or leased to other organization. All donors should
be removed from the mailing list if requested. All personal information is only to be used to help
complete a transaction, communicate back to a donor, and to update the donor on any JAF
happenings (Jefferson Awards Foundation, 2016).
The fair work & anti-discrimination policies cover equal opportunity, non-harassment,
sexual harassment, non-fraternization, and discrimination harassment. The policy also covers
procedures for reporting an incident and JAFs commitment to disability accommodation
(Jefferson Awards Foundation, 2016).
The personnel committee charter is a committee made up of at least three members. The
chair is one of the board members appointed to the committee. Additionally, up to two non-board
members, as determined and appointed annually, may constitute the full committee. The
personnel committee evaluates the performance and recommend total compensation of the
executive director and actively monitors the executive director and executive managements
progression and succession plans (Jefferson Awards Foundation, 2016).

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Lastly, the whistleblower policy consists of an ombudsman. An ombudsman is one who
assists individuals or groups in the resolution of conflicts or concerns. JAF's ombudsman is Mr.
James Meeks. He is a member of JAF's board of governors and is the designated neutral person
who has been appointed to facilitate the informal resolution of concerns of employees or
managers. The policy goes over the primary duties of the ombudsman and reporting concerns
(Jefferson Awards Foundation, 2016).
Funding
JAF is funded through donations, grants, program fees, ticket sales, and endowment
(Mitchell, 2016). JAF does not specify exact places that they receive funding from; however, I
would guess most of their funding comes from donors and tickets sales from the Jefferson
Awards National Ceremony, which is huge.
Relationship to Other Agencies
JAF have over 40 partners. They have a partnership with companies like Chegg,
Communities In Schools, National Education Association, University of Delawares Horn
Program in Entrepreneurship, and the NFL (Jefferson Awards Foundation, 2016). As you can see,
JAF creates partnerships with diverse groups. They have partnerships with non-profit
organizations, businesses, and celebrity and sports oriented groups. As long as the place they are
partnering up with is like-minded and has a drive to social change, then they will partner up with
them.
Strengths, Trends & Challenges
JAF is very good with communication and they have a lot of faith in their staff. JAF has a
conference call every other Tuesday. Each site updates each other and what is going on and it is
their chance to voice any concerns. Based off a conference call I heard, I came to the conclusion
that JAF has a lot of faith in their staff. The executive director announced to the staff that all
employees have unlimited vacation days effective immediately. She explained to everyone as
long as they are meeting their goals, they are able to take off for vacation as many times as they

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want. Clearly, she trusts all staff to not take advantage of this privilege and for them to still
complete their work in a timely manner.
Every organization has its challenges. JAF staff struggle in their positions because they
might have to pick up more than one department. For example, Michele Fidance is national
director of Delaware and Florida. Not only does she have to focus on Delaware, but she has to
focus on Florida too. As an intern, sometimes Im so focused on Delaware that I forget all about
Florida. Sometimes these staff members may not be experienced in certain fields to pick up that
department (Nasta, 2016). I say that because a staff member I interviewed who is national
director of two departments had never done fundraising before. One of her departments consists
of a lot of fundraising. She never took any fund development classes, so it was very hard for her
to effectively run the department.
Overall, JAF has been progressing over the years. Based off conversations I've had with
staff, they all seem to think JAF is getting better and better each year. They are all learning and
applying what they have learned within the organization. I believe the national organization is
doing great being as though it is only run by 27 people.
Interns Role
My role as an intern for JAF is to be the best intern every. I am responsible for effectively
running the LEAD360 Challenge. I have to effectively communicate with the past and future
participants. I have to advertise the program. One of my projects is to create an Instagram page
for Delaware JAF. I am responsible for recruiting participating youth, working with youth
service organizations, schools, and local government. I need to do all of this while remaining
consistent, timely, and professional. Lastly, I need to be goal-based and deadline-driven.

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References
Jefferson Awards Foundation - We Power Public Service. (n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2016,
from http://www.jeffersonawards.org/
Mitchell Jayme. (2016) Director of Finance, Operations & Events
Nasta Magaret. (2016) Director of Media Partners & National Ceremonies