Jewish Vocational Service (JVS)

Abby Snay. Abby Snay began her career with JVS 35 years ago as a part-time counselor to high school students and served as assistant director for several years before becoming Executive Director of JVS in 1984. Under Snay’s leadership, the JVS budget has increased from $300,000 to $7 million, the staff has grown from 15 to a team of 75, and tens… See full bio.

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Story: Read about Hector, a graphic designer's story: Hector had a great job as a graphic designer for a marketing agency, but when the bottom fell out of the economy, design projects dried up, and Hector was laid off. He tried freelancing, but it wasn’t paying the bills, and when he had to pull his two-year-old son out of daycare to cut costs, working from home became all but impossible. He knew he needed the stability of full-time work. Hector came to JVS Jewish Employment Network workshops on cover letter and resume writing, and our employment specialists advised him on how to handle his upcoming interview. The pieces fell into place, and Hector now works full time as a web designer at the Stanford School of Medicine. (Read other success stories at: http://www.jvs.org/Downloads/2009_JVS_Annual_Report.pdf)

Evidence of Impact Summary:

This organization is credited with their success in placing participants in sustainable jobs. Experts credit the group for the diversity of sectors and populations served.
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Organization Strengths Summary:

Nearly all experts consider the organization's leadership and staff a strength. Their marketing, advertising, and partnerships also receive mention.
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Areas for Improvement Summary:

Most experts considered partnerships and collaboration as the main areas for improvement.
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Abby Snay began her career with JVS 35 years ago as a part-time counselor to high school students and served as assistant director for several years before becoming Executive Director of JVS in 1984. Under Snay’s leadership, the JVS budget has increased from $300,000 to $7 million, the staff has grown from 15 to a team of 75, and tens of thousands of JVS clients have built their skills and found new jobs. JVS now offers job placement and skills training to 5,000 individuals a year, including youth in special education classes, dislocated professionals, immigrants and refugees, adults and youth with disabilities, the Jewish community, and the transgender community. The JVS sector-based approach to employment, which focuses on industries with opportunities for growth and advancement, gives the agency particular strength in placing clients in health care, business services and nonprofit jobs. Both in 2010 and in 2008, the San Francisco Business Times named Snay as one of the Bay Area’s 100 Most Influential Women. Snay sits on the Leadership Council of the National Skills Coalition, the Steering Committee of the California EDGE Campaign, the Citizens’ Advisory Committee of the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth, and their Families (DCYF), the Workforce Advisory Taskforce of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. During Snay’s tenure, JVS has received numerous honors and recognitions, including the Achievement in Employment Award by the Mayor's Committee for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities in 2000 and the Enterprise Foundation’s Award for Excellence in Workforce Development in 2001. Snay herself was appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom to the Universal Health Care Council in 2006, as well as the Employment, Education and Training Committee and the Business Advisory Committee of the Mayor’s Welfare Reform Task Force in San Francisco. Snay has served on the Mission Bay Community Advisory committee and the San Francisco County Leadership Board of the United Way, and has participated in the Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership San Francisco Program and the IAJVS Executive Director’s Council. An active member of the community, Snay served on the San Francisco Workforce Investment Board and its Executive Committee from 2000 to 2008. Both local and national media have featured Snay’s workforce development expertise. She has been interviewed by such media outlets as KTVU, KGO, KCBS, ABC, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Business Times, and the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. In 2010, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited JVS, praising the agency for its success in getting Americans back to work, and acknowledging Snay’s impressive contributions to the workforce development community. A native of Chicago, Snay holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in Counseling from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She has also completed executive education programs at Harvard School of Business and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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