Farshi Takes Leave of Absence

Bancroft president Paul Jenkins has granted co-founder Jasmin Farshi’s request for a leave of absence from the Chicago-based Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, citing a personal opportunity for her overseas. “I’ve been asked to provide leadership to Amazon, supporting the quality control of their Kindle e-book system,” said Farshi. “This represents a chance for me to return to one of my passions, engineering micro systems.”

While at Motorola in the early 1990s, Farshi earned two medical patents for innovations in the developing field of micro-vibrational treatment systems. “I have every intention of returning to Bancroft and to the vital work we’re doing with and on behalf of Veterans. The work at Amazon will give me the opportunity to hone my leadership skills in a larger organization—skills I will surely need in the future as Bancroft continues to grow.”

Farshi will continue to manage Bancroft’s Western Regional office in San Jose, California through the end of the year before taking up semi-permanent residence in China as part of her agreement with Amazon. Jenkins announced no immediate plans to replace Farshi, though the recent hiring of several Veterans of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan signals the likelihood of promotions from within.

“There is no way to simply bring someone new in and hope they can fill Jasmin’s shoes,” said Jenkins. “My commitment remains to developing long-term solutions to Veteran unemployment, and a big part of that commitment is what we do here within Bancroft.” In recent weeks, Bancroft has earned several large prime contracts providing architecture and engineering design for Department of Veterans Affairs facilities. Those contracts have earned Bancroft recognition as the fastest-growing CVE-certified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business.