Flinn Foundation
Jennifer Papworth is an experienced Program Manager at the Flinn Foundation since April 2022. Prior to this, Jennifer served as the Federal Relations Manager at Arizona State University from November 2017 to April 2022, where responsibilities included cultivating relationships with Arizona-based Congressional offices and overseeing strategic initiatives. Jennifer's prior experience also includes roles as a District Representative for Congressman Raúl Grijalva in the U.S. House of Representatives, and as a Governing Board Member for the Avondale Elementary School District, where contributions included improving pay equity and facilitating funding for educational programs. Additional experience includes positions in government relations and donor relations, complemented by a Bachelor of Science in Public Service & Public Policy from Arizona State University and an Associate of Applied Science in Public Administration from Rio Salado College.
Flinn Foundation
The Flinn Foundation is a privately endowed, philanthropic grantmaking organization established in 1965 by Dr. Robert S. and Irene Flinn. Its mission is to improve the quality of life in Arizona to benefit future generations. To achieve this mission, the Foundation aims to advance the state’s bioscience sector, provide a top-notch education to high-achieving students at Arizona's public universities, boost the fiscal and creative capacity of the state’s arts and culture organizations, and develop future state-level civic leaders. Grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations to advance interests in the biosciences, Flinn Scholars, and arts and culture. In civic leadership, the Foundation supports and administers the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership and its Flinn-Brown Academy in partnership with the Thomas R. Brown Foundations of Tucson. Beyond grantmaking, the Foundation leverages the additional capacities of a private foundation through its professional resources. These are exemplified by what’s informally known as the Flinn Foundation’s “5 C’s”—to convene interested parties, collaborate and generate partnerships among groups with mutual interests, catalyze solutions, communicate progress and outcomes, and consensus-build among stakeholders. The Foundation often convenes leaders in workshops and educational forums at the Flinn Foundation Conference Center within its office building at 1802 N. Central Avenue in Phoenix. When not being used by the Foundation, these facilities—two fully-equipped meeting rooms for groups of up to 72 people—are available at no cost to Arizona’s nonprofit organizations serving the fields of the biosciences, health care, education, arts and culture, and civic leadership.