Jen Pavkov joined the Women’s Fund in March of 2015. Around the office, you’ll find Jen singing, walking around barefoot and drawing during meetings. Jen was recently voted “most likely to tell you a dirty joke” by her teammates.
Jen’s first job was at Jo-Ann Fabrics (RIP), but she also worked as a corporate marketing manager for a national commercial real estate company before pivoting into nonprofit work in 2008. Her dream job would be to be a team mascot for a sports team that has a good font in their logo. Jen holds a BFA from Columbia College with an emphasis in painting and drawing and a minor in psychology. She is passionate about using art and design as a vehicle for social change.
Here’s a little bit more about our imaginative, brilliant and hilarious Creative Director:
Q: How long have you been at the WFO?
JP: 10 Years! My daughter was a few months old when I started working here
and now she’s about to go into middle school.
Q: Where are you from?
JP: Rural southwest Iowa
Q: Do you have any pets? What are their names?
JP: A cat named Lulu and a corgi named Kip.
Q: What are your “big 3” astrology signs (moon/rising/sun)?
JP: Aries moon, Scorpio rising, Sagittarius sun.
Q: What is your Enneagram number? Or Meyers-Briggs? Etc.?
JP: Enneagram 4—the Individualist; INFJ—the Advocate.
Q: What are your top 5 favorite albums?
JP: Autobahn by Kraftwerk.
As a kid I had the 8-track of this album in my bedroom. I fell asleep listening to it nearly every night.
Switched-On Bach by Wendy Carlos
This is another album from my childhood. My parents played this record often. Wendy is a trans woman who played classical music on the synthesizer. She scored A Clockwork Orange. This is a really incredible record.
Desire by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan has been my absolute fav since I found his music in college. This was the first album of his that I ever heard. I was blown away by his writing—incredibly visual storytelling. When I hear it, I’m instantly taken back to Columbia College’s painting studio.
1966 Concert Live from the Royal Albert Hall Bootleg by Bob Dylan
This is by far my favorite Dylan record. It’s a 2-disc (LOL) bootleg. Disc 1 is acoustic. The sound is mercurial. Wild and thin. Fragile. Disc 2 is electric and raucous. Visions of Johanna and Desolation Row have never sounded better
Blue by Joni Mitchell
Joni is everything! I saw her for my birthday last year at the Hollywood Bowl with some of my besties and it was phenomenal. Joni expands and shatters my heart every time I listen to her.
But also . . . The Rhythm of the Saints by Paul Simon, No Need to Argue by the Cranberries and Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.
Q: What are your top 5 favorite movies?
JP: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Apocalypse Now, Drive My Car, Amadeus, The Way We Were
Q: Do you have a secret talent?
JP: I’m pretty proud of my Pee Wee Herman impression.
Q: Give me two truths and a lie:
JP: 1. I have read the entire Bible more than once.
2. I used to paint the signs at Trader Joe’s. (LIE)
3. I was in a band called Simple Crust. (We didn’t play any instruments, we just designed album covers.)
Q: Do you have a moment that really galvanized your feminism?
JP: GRRRR. So many. One that really sticks out for me is, when I had babies at a previous job. I quickly learned that my job, and most jobs, don’t actually provide maternity leave. I had been there for nearly 10 years, but they didn’t treat me very well upon returning to my role after I took time off to have my baby. This job had the word FAMILY in its name—but didn’t have any accommodations for lactating employees and didn’t have a paid leave policy for families or pregnant people. This is super common, and makes no sense.
Q: Do you have a favorite Women’s Fund memory?
JP: Working with Brenda MF Council. There aren’t enough words to honor all that I learned from her.
Q: Can you share something funny or cringeworthy from your career?
JP: Most of my career has been pretty cringe! But, I had a job where they changed my name to “Jane” on my first day. I went by “Jane” for almost 4 years.
Q: How do you find joy or hope these days?
JP: Making people laugh. Making things by hand. Seeing live music. Going to the opera. Spending time with my friends, family and especially my kids—Kellar, Vivienne and Bear. Reminding myself that even when it looks really dark, that the future is not known. We get to co-create it, every single day.
Q: What are your currently reading/listening to?
JP: Sirens and Muses by Antonia Angress
Q: What would be the title of your memoir?
JP: A Wild Mind and a Well-Trained Eye
Q: What’s an unpopular opinion you have?
JP: Lawns are disgusting, outdated relics of colonization. I cannot stand grass.
Q: What’s the strangest thing we would find near your bed?
JP: My last IUD. I have it in a specimen cup on my nightstand.