Products + Services
Whether you’re starting or evolving a purpose-centered business, organization, or project, or trying to tell a story that drives meaningful change in the world, JPoint Collaborative can help.
Recent Work
On the Right Track for Virginia's Rail Future
JPoint is helping the Richmond-based Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) shape its future by conducting leadership interviews and facilitating strategic planning exercises. As a relatively new organization, VPRA is working to implement their first strategic plan, and JPoint is helping their vision meet this exceptional moment.
Pediatric Care When it Matters Most
The team at JPoint has been working with UCSF's Western Regional Alliance for Pediatric Emergency Management (WRAP-EM) to turn complex medical knowledge into an accessible, effective, and engaging training curriculum, focused on delivering excellent pediatric care during disasters. Follow WRAP-EM to stay updated on this groundbreaking series.
Mapping a Safer Future
JPoint partnered with Texas A&M's Agrilife program to improve communication and engagement for the Texas Community Watershed Partners (TCWP). Through stakeholder interviews and strategic planning, we supported TCWP's mission to improve community resilience against coastal storms and flooding. Find out more about TCWP's impactful work with CHARM, a user-friendly collaborative mapping tool.
Out of the Fire and Into the Flood
For the past 20 years, JPoint team members have engaged in research and risk communication efforts related to both wildfire and flood risk. We have proudly supported federal and state partners working to reduce complex, acute flood risk, such as that from Flood After Fire.
Where there's Smoke...there's Help
The team at JPoint Collaborative recently supported Emerge Technologies and the California Department of Public Health in putting together a comprehensive set of guidelines on how to deal with wildfire smoke. The document is available here, and while it was designed for California audiences, its up-to-date information is applicable to anyplace wildfire smoke spreads. The guide’s crisp design and concise language features what JPoint does best: effective communication design for the most difficult topics and situations.
JPoint Collaborative Blog
What is the JPoint Collaborative?
We are a queer-, women-owned small business (SWaM and WOSB certified). The ‘collaborative’ in our name refers both to how we work with our clients, and how our business operates internally. We employ an interdisciplinary, non-traditional, non-hierarchical approach to solving problems across and between fields and silos. We work closely with our clients to co-create solutions that work in the real world, providing the structures and background to help our clients think through what they want to accomplish, and how best to get there, while incorporating inputs from multiple sources at every step.
Taken in part from models like the artist collective and employee-managed manufacturing, a collaborative provides an alternative, equity-centered way to work on today’s biggest challenges. We provide our ‘collaborators’ (experienced consultants with a range of capabilities) with the creative flexibility to learn, grow, cross-pollinate, and test new ideas in a supportive team environment that enables our clients to best meet the moment. Contact us if you would like to learn more about the collaborative model.
Collaborative Capabilities
Affiliations
As a certified Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned, and Minority-owned business (SWaM) and a member of Richmond’s LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, we are committed to inclusive partnerships and bringing diverse perspectives to the work we do.
Collaborators
Destiny Aman
any/all pronouns
Founder + CEO
Destiny has been described as a “Swiss Army Knife” of tools and expertise. She is a nerd of many things - especially for making difficult and complex topics understandable and approachable. She brings a playful enthusiasm to her work, and she cares a lot about people.
Holding a Masters degree in geography and All But Dissertation (ABD) for her Ph.D., Destiny has over 20 years of experience designing and executing projects that put research into practice. An engaging storyteller, she has been invited to speak on topics ranging from improving participation in flood insurance programs, to wildfire communication, environmental change, and designing for the public good.
Destiny Aman (Founder + CEO)
Kate Hochstein
she/her
Partner + COO
Kate’s expertise goes beyond that of a traditional manager. She’s more like a team captain – encouraging and guiding from alongside and never shying away from throwing in to get the job done.
Kate holds her MBA from UNC Chapel Hill, has her Project Management Professional Certification from PMI, and has over a decade of experience managing complex projects. She has served as the program/contract manager for multiple multi-million dollar prime contracts for several Federal agencies, coordinating several subcontracting firms and over 100 team members. In part for that work, Kate was honored as an AAPI Next Generation National Security & Foreign Policy Leader.
Beyond her enthusiasm for spreadsheets and org charts, Kate also appreciates winning the occasional overly-competitive game of squash.
Kate Hochstein (Partner + COO)
Zsofia Paizs Greenbaum
she/her/hers
Leadership Coach + Change Implementer
Zsofia has dedicated the past two decades of her professional career to helping leaders, teams, and organizations thrive. She combines the deep technical expertise of organizational design with the psychology behind people, knowledge, and communication, delivering thoughtful and executable solutions from the individual to the company level.
On our projects, Zsofia has played a prominent role in helping our team and clients build resilient structures and systems, as well as coaching team leaders so that they are more prepared to be successful in navigating the changes ahead.
Zsofia holds a Master of Science in Organization Development and Knowledge Management from George Mason University and an Evidence-Based Coaching certification from Fielding Graduate University. Zsofia is credentialed by the International Coaching Federation as an Associate Certified Coach.
Zsofia Paizs Greenbaum (Leadership Coach + Change Implementer)
Emmett Wright
he/him/they/them
Project Manager + Analyst
Emmett was born with that entrepreneurial spark. A sous chef and then restaurant owner by 25 years old, he learned about project management, team support, and excellent service by delivering exactly that to his staff and customers. His professional journey has taught him the value of a growth mindset, as he's learned to pivot, solve problems, and prepare for the future.
After 12 years in the hospitality industry, Emmett began transitioning his skills into other spaces, including data and design. He learned how to integrate data into management, tell stories with numbers, and use data to support informed decision-making and problem solving. He loves working with designers to help them stay on track and amplify their creative impact. Whether the art is on a plate or a computer screen, Emmett appreciates its power to motivate us to be better to one another.
Emmett Wright (Project Manager + Analyst)
Savannah Schader
she/her/hers
Designer + Communications Specialist
Savannah specializes in communications, writing, and graphic design. With an eye for aesthetics and a passion for creative endeavors of all kinds, she leverages 15+ years of experience in writing and editing to produce refined products that effectively communicate their goals.
At JPoint, Savannah has enjoyed working with a diverse range of businesses, including Texas A&M, WRAP-EM and the California Department of Public Health. She has helped develop a wide variety of products, from graphics and branding, decks, manuals, and comms tools, to contributing to the creation of crisis comms strategies, playbooks, and facilitation guides.
Savannah is based out of the Northwest, with an academic background in Psychology and Social and Behavioral Sciences. She has over 10 years of experience in leadership and is passionate about teamwork and collaboration.
Savannah Schader (Designer + Communications Specialist)
Nicole Steward-Streng
she/her/they/them
Research Consultant + Data Storyteller
Nicole is passionate about understanding the human experience and has spent her career using data to determine how to make the human journey a little easier. She brings over 15 years of experience in social science research and analytics into her data storytelling to help clients make data-informed decisions.
On our projects, Nicole helps assess the need for data to address client questions and designs and implements the analytic strategy to meet those business objectives.
Nicole holds a dual Masters in Sociology and Demography from Penn State University and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). She has extensive experience in primary data collection, quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and complex analysis. Her experiences in academic research, as well as both client- and supplier-side marketing research, have uniquely equipped her with an extensive and diverse toolbox of analytics, leadership, strategy development, and project management.
Nicole Steward-Streng (Research Consultant + Data Storyteller))
Susan Brooks
she/her
HR Strategy + Talent Management Coach
Susan Brooks is an attorney and HR management consultant with over 30 years of experience in human resources management, recruitment strategies and communications for businesses, nonprofit organizations, and political advocacy groups. Susan has played key roles in the development of leadership training programs for senior level executives in the Federal government using traditional lecture and experiential learning through “on the job” challenges and applying soft skills and techniques learned in the programs. She is well versed in the use of new media to deliver training including podcasts, virtual learning, and mobile delivery.
Susan has overseen and developed compensation, job classification and performance management systems for private sector and nonprofit clients, and HR organizational process engagements for multinational entities. She has worked with both HR and executive management to develop and then present results which were incorporated into HR capital management processes.
Susan is a thought leader in the areas of equity and inclusion, leadership and training with articles appearing in publications such as the National Law Journal, Bloomberg BNA, People + Strategy, Training Magazine and Law Practice Today.
Susan also has over 20 years of experience with equity in the legal profession. It began when she joined New York Law School as the associate director of admissions. A regional law school serving many first-generation college graduates, New York Law School has a special mission to serve underrepresented communities in the legal profession. Susan was instrumental in developing recruiting initiatives that involved outreach to prospective law students in diverse and underserved communities. This experience continued through roles at Georgetown University Law Center, and Crowell & Moring, LLP, where Susan was charged with equitable and inclusive recruitment initiatives. She also served as a member of the firm’s Professional Development Committee and its Diversity Committee, and she was an integral part of the professional development process. After two years, Susan was promoted to Director of Human Resources at Crowell & Moring. She began her legal career at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld. Susan received both a B.A. in Journalism and her law degree from Louisiana State University and her Executive Coaching certification from Fielding Graduate University.
Susan Brooks (HR Strategy + Talent Management Coach)
Diane McMartin
she/her
Communications Specialist
Diane McMartin is a Communications Specialist and consultant with expertise in translating complex ideas into compelling, accessible content. Diane develops content for social media and online channels for JPoint that drives meaningful connection and impact. As a skilled writer, speaker, and educator, Diane brings a unique ability to translate challenging topics and create engaging content across platforms and audiences.
Before joining JPoint, Diane spent several years as a wine writer, educator, and retail manager, where she led marketing and educational programming, authored content for national publications, and cultivated lasting client relationships through clear, approachable communication. Her experience as a wine writer and educator helped her learn how to break down complex, intimidating topics and make them accessible and easy to understand. As a published author and skilled communicator, she continues to craft content that engages, educates, and inspires creativity and action.
Diane McMartin (Communications Specialist)
Get In Touch
Independent consultants: JPoint will be looking to add experienced collaborators to the team over the next six months. Contact us to learn more about Collaborative structure and benefits and to be updated when seats are available. Priority capabilities sought:
- Project management, business operations, execution
- Data analysis & visualization
- Stakeholder engagement, network mapping & activation, voluntary associations
- Public health communications
