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Roetzel partner becomes Gathering Place board member

SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter

Published: October 25, 2016

It’s been over 10 years since Roetzel & Andress partner Jayne Juvan got the news that her mother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer.

At the time, Juvan had only recently graduated from Capital University Law School and was trying to make a name for herself as a first-year associate in the Cleveland office of Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff.

Juvan said a few weeks later her boyfriend, Dan Depenbrok, (now husband) received news that his father had colon cancer.

“My mom was a single mom so I moved her into my home so I could take care of her,” said Juvan. “At the same time, Dan was helping his father through chemotherapy treatment for colon cancer. It was an overwhelming time in our lives.

“It was really tough because my firm had an informal networking requirement and I was unable to go to events because I needed to be home for my mother.”

But then Juvan learned about The Gathering Place. The nonprofit organization, which opened its doors in 2000, has locations in Beachwood and Westlake. It provides free programs and services designed to support, educate and empower individuals and families touched by any type of cancer.

Juvan and her mother attended support groups at the Beachwood location. She said her mother began meeting cancer survivors who helped her to understand that “she truly could fight this horrible disease and win.

“The organization really made a difference,” said Juvan. “My mom had a poor prognosis but The Gathering Place helped her to turn the perception of her illness around and be more open to the possibility that treatment would be effective. Today both my mother and my father-in-law are cancer free.”

It was during the time that her mother was ill that Juvan first began exploring how she could use the Internet and social media to help research and raise awareness about cancer and the healthcare system.

“I was seeking emotional support and I learned about all these chatrooms where women with a cancer diagnosis came to share their experiences,” said Juvan. “I realized how powerful the Internet is and I thought I might be able to use the Internet to meet my networking requirements for my firm.”

She developed a blog that focused on healthcare law, which was picked up by media outlets like Crain’s Cleveland Business. Not long after, she turned to using Twitter and was featured by Forbes Media both online and in the Forbes Media book entitled “Their Roaring Thirties: Brutally Honest Career Talk From Women Who Beat The Youth Trap.”

Now she’s starting to leverage her online following to assist with fundraising efforts to help The Gathering Place.

“At Benesch, I organized a team at my firm to take part in the ‘Race for the Place,’ which is one of the largest fundraisers for The Gathering Place,” she said. “I later helped to develop an attorney corporate challenge for the race and reached out to other firms and asked them to create teams.”

In January 2013, Juvan became a partner at Roetzel & Andress at age 32.

“It was a very good opportunity for me,” said Juvan, who is a member of the corporate as well as the public law, regulatory and finance practice groups.

She lives in Twinsburg with her husband Dan and their twin infant sons, Alexander and Zachary Depenbrok.

Now that she’s a partner, Juvan decided to step up her efforts to assist The Gathering Place. In 2016 she co-founded and began chairing the organization’s Rising Leaders Council, which aims to recruit the next generation of Northeast Ohio residents to carry on the work of The Gathering Place.

In July, she was asked to serve on the board of directors as the liaison for the organization’s Rising Leaders Council.

“I was totally honored to be asked to join the board of directors,” said Juvan.

Eileen Saffran, founder and chief executive officer of The Gathering Place, first met Juvan shortly after she came to the organization seeking help for her mother.

“Jayne is one sharp young woman,” said Saffran. “She is extremely professional, enthusiastic and energetic. She is someone who is willing to roll up her sleeves and get involved and provide guidance to others who want to be involved.

“A number of years ago she became a volunteer,” said Saffran. “This year she got our Rising Leaders Council off the ground, looking at our bylaws and coming up with ways to attract the millennial generation. This is such an important initiative because its goal is to nurture our future leadership and develop an additional revenue stream to ensure our sustainability.  

“We are thrilled to have Jayne join our board of directors as a representative of our Rising Leaders Council as well as an experienced professional in the community.”

Lewis Adkins Jr., a partner and public law, regulatory and finance practice group manager, said Juvan is “a tremendous advocate for her clients and well versed in the modern and effective ways to communicate with entrepreneurs.”

He said it is important to the firm that its attorneys do their part to improve the communities where they live and work.

“I think the organization has an important mission and it is an honor to have a member of the firm help push that mission forward,” said Adkins. “I have no doubt she will bring every fiber of her energy and creativity to the organization as she does with everything that she becomes involved with.”

“My overall goal as a member of the board is to help ensure long-term sustainability for the organization,” said Juvan. “I am looking forward to helping them to determine alternative revenue streams so The Gathering Place can continue to provide its services to those dealing with cancer free of charge.”

 


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