Jean Butzen has been a leader in the nonprofit sector for over twenty-five years. She has worked in areas of community organizing and development, nonprofit supportive housing, and homeless and affordable housing policy. In 2005, as the CEO of Lakefront Supportive Housing, Ms. Butzen led a merger of her organization with the nationally acclaimed Mercy Housing, Inc., based in Denver, CO. This merger resulted in expanding Lakefront's premiere supportive housing model into the Mercy network of 16 offices around the country. At Lakefront, Ms. Butzen took a brand new nonprofit and made it into the largest supportive housing provider in the Midwest, with 1,000 units of housing and services for homeless adults and families in four Chicago neighborhoods, an annual combined budget of $16M, assets worth $60M, and a staff of 200 people.

In 2006, Ms. Butzen launched a consulting practice Mission Plus Strategy Consulting, focusing on nonprofit management and strategy. Ms. Butzen is particularly interested in value-driven leadership and decision making and she believes that nonprofit business strategy is underutilized in achieving mission: Mission + Strategy = Social Value.

Ms. Butzen focuses on alternative business strategies for nonprofits such as mergers, partnerships, collaborations, and earned-income methods for delivering social value. Ms. Butzen has particular skills in the areas of nonprofit start-ups, value-driven management, and crisis resolution.