The Dana Juett Residency
The Dana Juett Residency helps young professionals become leaders in venture philanthropy. The Class of 2024 will be the eighth class of the Residency.
Created by Social Venture Partners Dallas and inspired by the late Dallas Philanthropist Dana Juett, the program guides residents through nine months of hands-on learning and experience in pro-bono social impact consulting. Unlike programs that focus on volunteerism, managing nonprofits, or grantmaking, the Dana Juett Residency is uniquely focused on equipping young professionals to use their specific strengths and talents to expand the capacity of organizations and causes they support.
Residents can expect to:
- Grow in character and vision
- Deepen their understanding of systemic social issues and the Dallas philanthropic ecosystem
- Develop expertise in creating sustainable, powerful social innovations
- Gain rewarding first-hand experience in nonprofit consulting
- Learn directly from SVP Dallas Partners, community and business leaders, and philanthropic innovators
- Meet talented and generous professionals of all backgrounds
Millennials are an exceptionally generous and creative generation. In the last year, more than 84% of millennials made a charitable donation, and over 70% spent time volunteering. This generation is already making an enormous impact on the world. In recent years, GenZ has joined the next generation of donors, bringing with them an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit to address social challenges.
Unfortunately, many young professionals still feel excluded from participating in institutional philanthropy. This is largely the result of traditional philanthropy’s reliance on three resources that most people in their twenties do not possess: substantial wealth, well-developed networks, and acute expertise.
Early career professionals should not have to wait for their later years to contribute to meaningful causes. We want to see them engage powerfully and effectively right now.
The Dana Juett Residency is growing a new generation of social leaders through the venture philanthropy model of giving. Venture philanthropy combines pro-bono consulting, leadership development, and sustainable financial investment to break down the barriers to giving while building the individual’s capacity for effective philanthropy.
The venture philanthropy model has been used by Social Venture Partners to empower new philanthropists for more than 30 years.
When you are preparing to change the world, traditional group instruction is not enough. The Dana Juett Residency combines practical sessions with local business, social, and civic leaders with opportunities to build meaningful new connections and work that makes a direct impact on our community.
Throughout the program, residents will have the opportunity to:
- Learn from industry-leading speakers
- Work hands-on in workshops
- Engage in community events
- Practice guided nonprofit consulting with social impact organizations
We believe that change in the world begins with an internal, personal paradigm shift. From the opening retreat, residents will focus on developing a clearer sense of their personal values and how those values lead them to engage with the world. Young professionals in the Dana Juett Residency will further develop four key understandings through the program:
Story Value
Residents will be able to communicate their personal story clearly, understand how their story intertwines with a social good organization, and prepare organizations to better communicate their story in their communities.
Social Value
Residents will be able to identify the value of initiatives, select key projects to enable value, and develop key marketing and finance strategies to gain momentum.
Sustaining Value
Residents will be able to determine practical methods to maintain a growth path for selected initiatives with an emphasis on offering an accountable governance model and financial requirements to support continued growth.
Innovating Value
Residents will employ design thinking skills and leadership capabilities to ensure creativity, future program relevance, and growth mindsets of social good organizations and their leaders.
The Dana Juett Residency’s curriculum extends from the legacy of local philanthropist Dana Juett. Having spent his life using the power of community to effect social impact, this program seeks to share Dana’s values and techniques for creating change with a new generation.
- Residents must have turned 21 and not yet turned 30 as of September 1, 2023.
- Residents will be expected to make a monthly contribution to the program which will help finance grants made to social impact organizations. This contribution will be determined individually by the Resident and should be a substantial, but sustainable amount.
- Residents must reside in Dallas/Ft Worth as the curriculum is locally focused.
- Residents can expect to give 8-10 hours per month to the program.
Applications for the Dana Juett Residency are available beginning July 2nd. All applications are due by 5:00 pm on Friday, July 28th.
Applicants will be notified of their acceptance during the week of August 21st. The Dana Juett Residency will hold its opening retreat on September 9th-10th. The retreat is mandatory. We will notify all accepted participants of the details.
For questions or help, please contact Grace Topete, (gtopete@svpdallas.org).
The program is entering its sixth year and has trained over 170 young professionals that have plugged into their community on a more intentional and deliberate level. You can help the next generation of philanthropists get their start and honor the legacy of the late Dana Juett by making a gift to the Dana Juett Residency. Your contribution will help us open the Residency to more participants and provide more significant funding to other organizations through the program.
For more information or to make a pledge, please contact Tony Fleo, CEO of SVP Dallas (tfleo@svpdallas.org).
