Jon Funes Founder & CEO

The story of how Venture Upward began is one of adversity turned into beauty and resilience. It is a story born of a community coming together with a heart of service. It is a story that begins with Jon Funes.

In 2019, Jon Funes was given a diagnosis that no one wants to hear–brain cancer. During this time of fighting the disease and recovery, Jon experienced community and genuine love and support from others in a way that changed his life forever. He came through to the other side of this adversity on a mission knowing that his new-found health and life needed to be dedicated to one thing: What can he do to help people?

When Jon was a little boy, he did not love school and learning of any kind. It wasn’t until a teacher took an interest in him and showed him what learning can inspire, that he truly began to fall in love with learning. Throughout Jon’s life, he has held many leadership roles in both engineering and education. He has used his love of learning to lead and influence others to do the same including his wonderful wife and seven awesome children.

Taking the mission to help and serve people combined with his passion for learning and education, Jon started Venture Upward with the goal to help families cultivate and embrace a culture of lifelong learning and success. Jon says, “Whatever we do, if we try to stay positive and try to do what’s right, then daily we’ll have that joy.” Venture Upward’s story is one of serving people that brings joy and happiness.

Jessica Breuer Vice President

Jessica Breuer is the mother of seven amazing children. Her family’s mission statement embraces various values, including faith, family, leadership, education, charity, empathy, joy, and living on purpose. It was upon embracing that family mission statement that Jessica put her own doctoral pursuits, distinguished academic awards, publications, and nationally presented research on hold to dive into homeschooling!

Several years into her homeschooling journey, an opportunity presented itself to pursue a career in the home education world that she had fallen in love with; again, she dove in. Along the way, Jessica realized her passion for helping other women grow professionally while continuing to home-educate. She has helped many women grow into their roles as both professionals and home-educating moms.

With a deeply rooted belief in the power of encouragement and community, Jessica hopes to inspire others to live on purpose, thus allowing productivity, light, and joy to flood their lives and the lives of others.