ABOUT US
The JVS Philadelphia Fund for Women was founded by Judee von Seldeneck, a committed leader and successful businesswoman in Greater Philadelphia. She is Founder and Chair of Diversified Search Group, the largest woman-founded search firm in the world, headquartered in Philadelphia. For over forty-five years, Judee has been a pioneer in the search industry and a leader in placing qualified women and diversity candidates.
Now, Judee’s goal is to assist women-led enterprises to mature and grow by:
• Providing a source of capital to women growth enterprises;
• Leveraging the experience of established women leaders to provide consulting and advisory services, and;
• Connecting women CEOs to resources to accelerate their growth.
Evaluations and funding decisions are informed by an Advisory Committee of accomplished women leaders that meets monthly. Companies of interest will be invited to present at a meeting of the Advisory Committee. Awards are made on a quarterly basis.
JVS Philadelphia Fund for Women has partnered with the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania to administer the grant funds.
Support for companies that receive a grant may be provided by members of the Advisory Committee and their respective networks, and through contributed services by the Corporate Partners Network.
About Judee von Seldeneck
Judith M. von Seldeneck is the Founder and Chair of Diversified Search Group, headquartered in Philadelphia. A pioneer in the search industry, she has been identifying and placing senior-level executive talent around the country for more than four decades.
A born-and-bred North Carolinian, she began her career as an executive assistant to then-Senator Walter F. Mondale in Washington, D.C. Her road into executive search commenced in the early 1970s when she bought into a small Philadelphia firm founded to find temp jobs for women. Buying out her partners in 1974, over the next several decades von Seldeneck built Diversified Search into one of the top ten executive search firms in the nation.
During the course of her career, von Seldeneck has been recognized by the executive search industry as setting the standard for retained executive search and has been active on numerous public, private, and not-for-profit boards of directors. Some of these include Citizens Financial Group; Tasty Baking Company; Teleflex, Inc.; CoreStates Financial Group; Meridian Bancorp; and AAA MidAtlantic. She has also served as Chair for the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors. She formerly served on the Comcast and NBC Universal Joint Diversity Council and as Chairperson of the Women’s Advisory Council. She was also a founder of the Forum of Executive Women, the largest association of women business leaders in the Philadelphia region.
She has been the recipient of dozens of awards and honors recognizing her achievements both professionally and philanthropically. These include the William Penn Award, the highest honor bestowed by the business community of Greater Philadelphia; the Drexel LeBow Business Leader of the Year Award, one of the most prestigious honors in the Greater Philadelphia region; the Association of Executive Search Consultants’ Eleanor H. Raynolds Award for Excellence in Executive Search; being designated as one of BusinessWeek’s Top 50 Most Influential Executive Recruiters in the World; and induction into the Philadelphia Business Hall of Fame. She is also a Global Board Member of AltoPartners.
View the JVS Philadelphia Fund for Women Advisory Committee here.
About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania
Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (Ben Franklin) is the Philadelphia region’s Partners with a Purpose. Nationally ranked among the most active seed and early-stage investors, Ben Franklin helps high-growth innovative enterprises plant and nurture their roots, creating both immediate connections and lasting economic growth. The nonprofit has supported more than 2,000 companies to deliver an impact of more than $5 billion and 32,000 jobs in the Philadelphia region. Whether in tech, life sciences, manufacturing, or industries and breakthroughs yet discovered, Ben Franklin works to raise the community of innovation higher, to benefit present and future generations of Pennsylvanians. Visit us at www.partnerswithapurpose.org, or follow us at @bftp_sep.