Profile

Jay Geneske

Former Director of Digital

Jay Geneske formerly directed the Foundation’s digital strategy to engage internal and external audiences, champion organization-wide collaboration and knowledge sharing, deliver data that informs organization decisions, and pioneer new ways to hear and share innovative ideas and perspectives on serving the needs of poor or vulnerable people in a time of rapid change.

Jay previously served as the Director of Online Communications for Echoing Green, a global nonprofit that provides seed capital and support to early-stage social entrepreneurs. He has also served in digital and brand strategy roles in the cultural sector, including Carnegie Hall, Shedd Aquarium, and Steppenwolf Theatre. His work has been featured in The New York Times, AdAge, Crain’s, Forbes, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Jay holds two bachelor’s degrees from Drake University and received a global affairs graduate certificate from New York University.

Authored Content

  • May 11 2015
    Blog Post Your Mission Statement is Not Your Story I lead the digital efforts at The Rockefeller Foundation, and I have the great pleasure and challenge to explore how digital can be leveraged to make the social sector more effective. Without question, digital has changed the game, and I am particularly fascinated how digital has created a moment of dynamism around storytelling. Many of […] James Geneske
  • Apr 07 2015
    Blog Post The Purpose of a Foundation's Website What’s a foundation website for? We aren’t the only ones who have asked this question. After all, foundations are not in the business of raising money or selling products or services. So what good can a foundation website do? The Rockefeller Foundation has over one hundred years of experience promoting the well-being of humanity around […] James Geneske, Marc Mertens
  • Feb 28 2015
    Report Telling and Spreading Stories That Fuel Change In September 2014, a remarkable group of individuals convened at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in Italy to discuss how to help those in the social impact sector use the full power of storytelling and infuse memorable, mind-changing stories into their work. The room was filled with thought-provoking journalists, accomplished documentarians, digital strategists who challenge traditional story construction, practitioners working with organizations every day, a leading […] Justina Chen, Andy Goodman, Garth Moore, James Geneske, Kristen Grimm, Lara Setrakian, Liba Rubenstein, Maria Ressa, Marjan Safinia, Matt Locke, Robert Medina, Shankar Vedantam, Traci Carpenter, Victor Ombonya, Wendy Levy
  • Dec 04 2014
    Blog Post Introducing Hatch for Good: Tell Stories with Purpose Stories with purpose don’t just materialize—they’re strategically planned, they’re creatively crafted, and designed to achieve measurable outcomes. Using the landscape report Digital Storytelling for Social Impact as our guide, we’ve rolled up our sleeves with our lead grantee, Hattaway Communications, and dozens of experts and leaders to come up with a tool that we think […] James Geneske
  • Nov 03 2014
    Blog Post Making Time for Story Few would deny that storytelling has the potential to drive considerable social impact, but really, who has the time? I’m with you. I’ve been meaning to write this post all week, but my days overflowed with meetings, emails, and crafting and producing content—not to mention working on a full digital overhaul for the Foundation. Although […] James Geneske
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