Co-CEO, Common Future
Jennifer Njuguna is co-CEO of Common Future and an expert in operations, strategy, the future of work, and implementing a suite of equitable internal initiatives including a 4-day-workweek and compensation audits. She assumed the role of co-CEO after serving as chief operating officer at Common Future since 2021, during which she built organization and staff capacity, developed adaptive processes and systems across the organization, and defined organizational measures.
Njuguna is also a senior fellow with the Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity (AFRE) and an attorney who is passionate about working with BIPOC communities and strengthening the practices of organizations partnering with BIPOC communities. Prior to joining Common Future, Njuguna founded JSN Strategies, LLC, consulting with nonprofits and small businesses on strategy, organizational culture, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. She has also partnered with The Rise Journey—a women owned business focused on addressing the gap in DEI and organizational development—as a lead advisor. She served as the first chief strategy officer at Brooklyn Community Services (BCS), coming into this role after having previously served as BCS’s general counsel and chief compliance officer.
Before joining BCS, Njuguna helped US-based and international K-12 education leaders build capacity to serve students at the Education Delivery Institute, and she worked as a health justice staff attorney at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, using a community lawyering model to partner with community based organizations to address health disparities. Njuguna has extensive board experience, including serving as a trustee and previously as board chair for La Cima Elementary School in Brooklyn, New York, and as a member of an advisory children’s subcommittee to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She has served as a member of Nonprofit New York’s Nonprofit Excellence Awards Selection Committee, a member of the Association of Nonprofit Specialists, and a member of the New York City Bar Association.
Njuguna is admitted to practice law in New York and has a juris doctor from the New York University School of Law, where she was an AnBryce Scholar and recipient of the Gary E. Moncrieffe Award for Outstanding Student in Racism and Law. She also has a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Michigan. She is from Oakland, California, and currently resides in New Jersey with her husband and two sons. When she is not working, she enjoys listening to soca and Afrobeats, dance, exercise, travel, reading, and spending time outdoors.