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Abby Snay Since becoming executive director of JVS in 1984, Abby Snay has been instrumental in the growth of JVS by expanding its focus through more diverse programs, funding and staffing. Snay’s accomplishments include implementing programs such as: customized training in legal and financial services; sector initiatives offering training in nursing and allied health; vocational English and skills training programs for immigrants and refugees; school to work programs for students with disabilities; career planning and employment support. She also has increased the budget from $300,000 to nearly $6 million and the number of employees from 15 to 75. She oversees all aspects of the organization from program development to funding. Snay began her career with JVS 32 years ago as a part-time counselor for high school students. She soon advanced to supervisor and became assistant director in 1981, where she served for three years until becoming executive director. Since Snay became executive director, JVS has received several significant awards, including: the Enterprise Foundation’s Award for Excellence in Workforce Development in 2001; the Community Based Program of the Year by the Department of Rehabilitation in 1991; the International Association of Jewish Vocational Services (IAJVS) Program Award for the Soviet Nurses Program in 1993; and the IAJVS Program Award for the Work Resource Program in 1995. The JVS Work Resource Program also was selected by the University of Minnesota as one of six innovative schools to work programs in a national dissemination project. In May of 2000, JVS was the recipient of the Achievement in Employment Award by the Mayor's Committee for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities. An active member of the community, Snay serves on the San Francisco Workforce Investment Board and its Executive Committee. She is a member of the Citizens’ Advisory Council of the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and their Families, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the In-Home Support Services agency. She served on the Universal Health Care Council appointed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom 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. She also served on the Mission Bay Community Advisory committee, and the San Francisco County Leadership Board of the United Way. She also has participated in the Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership San Francisco Program and as chair of the IAJVS Executive Director’s Council. Snay was honored with the Jewish Community Federation’s Professional of the Year Award in 1993. In April of 2000, she was honored for her 25 years of service to the community at the annual Strictly Business luncheon. The Board of Supervisors declared April 6th Abby Snay day in the City and County of San Francisco and she received commendations from Governor Davis, Senator Boxer, President Clinton, Jackie Speier and John Burton in honor of her service to the community. A native of Chicago, Snay received a bachelor’s degree in English in 1972 and a master’s degree in Counseling in 1973 from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She completed the Harvard Business School’s Executive Education program in Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management in the summer of 1999 and Harvard Business School’s Executive Education program in Performance Measurement in Non-Profit Organizations in 2001, and the Stanford Business School’s Executive Education program in Strategy for Non Profit Organizations in April, 2007. |
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