Cabrini Profiles – Jane Brown

Jane Brown

With 15 years of experience in Strategic Planning from various financial institutions, Jane Brown’s involvement in the Strategic Planning Committee, a subcommittee of the Cabrini Mission Foundation Board of Trustees, was a way to combine two passions: the Cabrini mission and solid, visionary planning. She has been a member of the Foundation’s Board for three years, and was quickly tapped to serve on the Strategic Planning Committee because of her expertise. Currently, Jane is the head of Strategic Finance at ING in New York City.

Q. What was your motivation for involvement with Cabrini?
Once I understood the true scope of the Cabrini institutions and the lives they impacted, and that the MSCs were reaching out to the laity to help insure the future of the institutions, I was hooked.

Q. Describe your most fulfilling moment while working with the Foundation.
I stepped in at Mother Cabrini High School to try to understand why they had financial difficulties that required a subsidy from the Foundation. I think I was able to help them understand how to manage the school like a business, and to make decisions about money that were not overwhelmed by the mission of the school. I think they were trying to do everything for everyone, which ended up stretching their resources too thin. At this point, they are close to being break-even and have a good system of controls in place for managing the ongoing operations of the school.

Q. What do you hope to see in the future for the Foundation?
We are beginning a journey to understand the options for the future of the Foundation and what its focus should be. As a strategist, I’m used to looking at traditional SWOT analysis— evaluating Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats — to decide where to focus. In my experience, few organizations have as many strengths and opportunities to build on as the Cabrini Foundation. So much good is done for children, the elderly and the infirm, and these populations are only going to grow larger. The Foundation can be a prime driver of the lasting power of the Cabrini institutions and the legacy of Mother Cabrini. We have a great opportunity, and I am convinced that this is a chance to make a lasting mark on our communities.