"...I see L.A.U.N.C.H as a powerful enabler to help young men in need to thrive."

- Jane van Tienen,

Board Member, Programs Committee

What about LAUNCH's mission and work inspires you?

Throughout my life, I’ve had the great fortune of being supported by some fantastic male role models, including my Dad, Peter, and brother, Paul. From a very early age, Dad showed me the impact of extending kindness and compassion to others. Helping others is something that drives me, and I see L.A.U.N.C.H as a powerful enabler to help young men in need to thrive. It’s been a privilege to work alongside L.A.U.N.C.H volunteers, mentors and mentees – I’m regularly impressed by the commitment and drive of our team. 

What specific assets do you bring to LAUNCH as a Board Member?

Having lived and worked around the globe, I bring a different perspective to the L.A.U.N.C.H Board, which I consider keeps us creative, intentional, and accountable in delivering our Mission. I’ve developed and delivered training programs in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, and I use my skills to develop the events program for L.A.U.N.C.H to ensure that the events are connection-focused, fun and meaningful. 

I’m also interested in benchmarking with similar organizations to L.A.U.N.C.H, and I’ve used my networks to connect with some other nonprofits in the UK and Australia. Amongst other things, understanding and learning from the journey of others working in this field helps us maintain best practice in building community trust and child safeguarding practices.

If LAUNCH were to be on the cover of your favorite magazine in 5 years time, what would the story be about?

In one of my recent conversations with a nonprofit in the UK called Lads Need Dads, Founder and Managing Director Sonia Shaliean commended LAUNCH’s focus on quality over quantity, and she joked, “you don’t know who you are raising in the program – one of the mentees could be the next President of the US!”. Now, 5 years probably isn’t quite long enough for one of our young men to be President (yet…!), but I do hope to read that the program has inspired participating young men to L.A.U.N.C.H into their lives realizing their own hopes and dreams in ways they didn’t think possible before joining us.

What do you want to accomplish being on the LAUNCH Board this year?

I’m energized to contribute to the design of the Graduate and Ambassadorship programs to add to the suite of our male-led group mentoring offerings. The opportunity for our young men to stay connected to L.A.U.N.C.H and participate in these additional programs is exciting to me.

In the next year, I’m also looking forward to working with L.A.U.N.C.H.’s President Taylor Viele to develop more in-house mentor supports and training as an important enhancement to our current practice.