She Saw Talent. Then She Built the Businesses to Hire It.
Some people see an old movie theater and think, “Someone should do something with that.”
Valerie Jensen saw jobs.
Then came gourmet popcorn, a farm, maple syrup, and a growing collection of reasons to question what employers think people with disabilities can do.
Apparently, when Val gets an idea, it is advisable to leave room for expansion.
Her story begins with her younger sister, Hope, who was born with Down syndrome in 1979. Val grew up seeing someone she loved encounter a world with unnecessarily small expectations. She earned a master’s degree in special education, became an elementary school teacher, and later led an arts nonprofit for adults with disabilities, creating musicals and films with performers whose talents were impossible to miss. Their difficulty finding employment was equally hard to ignore.
Here were people who could learn roles, collaborate, create, rehearse and deliver a performance. Yet employers kept overlooking them.
Val decided to become an employer who would look closer.
In November 2014, the Prospector Theater opened in Ridgefield, Connecticut: a nonprofit, four-screen theater showing first-run movies and creating paid employment for people with disabilities. A movie theater offered a whole range of jobs, from concessions and customer service to projection, maintenance and creative work.
Employees are called Prospects, and their interests and talents are called their sparkle. The idea is to discover what someone enjoys and does well, then help turn it into valuable work. The organization reports that approximately 75% of its workforce self-identifies as having a disability.
Sparkle may sound like something that comes in a craft-store jar. At the Prospector, it comes with responsibilities and a paycheck.
And the results deserve more than a polite round of applause.
In its 2025 annual report, the organization reported cumulative totals since opening of more than 355 Prospects employed, 1.267 million hours of meaningful employment, and $35 million in payroll paid to Prospects. Customers had purchased more than 1.075 million movie tickets. Read the Prospector's 2025 annual report.
Those numbers also represent skills that travel. One of the original Prospects, Emily Haughney, built experience in service learning, events and human resources before moving into a job at a local daycare, following her love of working with children. A successful employment program can celebrate someone’s next job as enthusiastically as their first.
Then the pandemic arrived, and movie theaters faced a problem no amount of excellent ushering could solve.
The team expanded Prospector Popcorn, taking a concession-stand favorite into a much bigger market. What began in a 325-square-foot theater kitchen grew into a 5,000-square-foot production facility in Ridgefield. By August 2026, the business had landed a 70,000-bag order through Restaurant Associates, its largest single order to that point. Its popcorn was reaching more than 400 hotels, along with grocery stores and other retailers. Twenty-five of the organization’s 115 employees contributed to popcorn production.
That is a substantial promotion for a snack. And the new factory is just getting warmed up.
This year, Prospector Popcorn also made its US Open tennis debut, bringing its sweet and savory flavors to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. That's quite a journey from a theater concession stand in 2014 to a Grand Slam in 2026.
It is also smart business: a product that can reach customers across the country creates opportunities beyond the theater’s seats and showtimes. Donations remain essential to the nonprofit’s model, but growing earned revenue helps support its employment mission.
Meanwhile, Val was finding opportunities outdoors.
She bought Gemstone Farm in 2018 and developed an outdoor work program during the pandemic. At the Wilton property, caring for chickens, building coops and tending gardens created useful work. Maple syrup production followed, bringing jobs collecting sap, processing it, bottling, labeling and sealing the finished product. The farm also offered a different working environment for people whose strengths were better suited to being outdoors.
Most of us look at maple trees and admire the foliage. Val found a staffing plan.
Today, Gemstone describes its mission as combining meaningful employment, hands-on education and opportunities for people of all abilities to connect with nature and build skills.
Her work has earned recognition across several fields. Val’s honors include the 2013 Special Olympics Connecticut Hall of Fame Unsung Hero Award, the 2016 University at Albany Excellence in Community Service Award, and the 2026 Special Olympics Connecticut Eunice Murtha Award for philanthropic impact. That latest recognition also celebrates her support for inclusive sports and Ukrainian refugee families with children with disabilities.
The Prospector itself received Employer of the Year recognition in 2017 from Connecticut and the Autism Action Coalition, followed by the Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce’s Compassion in Commerce Award in 2019. Fittingly, the latter came with a sparkly pink trophy.
At Zamonos.com, we care about whether people can participate fully in their communities. That includes going to the movies, enjoying a great snack, and having somewhere to show up on Monday where their work is valued.
Val’s businesses make that possibility tangible. People serve customers, solve problems, develop skills and earn money. Their contributions help the businesses grow, and that growth creates more opportunities.
Val saw talent that other people were missing. Then she put it on the payroll.
She is someone we love.
Explore Prospector Theater · Shop Prospector Popcorn at the Zamonos Store · Discover Gemstone Farm
