As the Executive Director of the Gift of Hope Community Foundation and a member of the executive team for the Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network, Audrena Spence provides strategic leadership and operational management for philanthropy initiatives. She oversees a range of strategies and projects including grants, major gift campaigns, fund development and partnerships that serve to increase contributions to the Community Foundation. Since joining the organization, Spence has successfully launched the inaugural Community Foundation Golf Outing and the Community Foundation 5K Run, Walk & Roll.
Before her tenure at Gift of Hope, Spence served as Executive Director for the Metropolitan Family Services Calumet Center, where she grew the center’s annual budget, nearly doubling it from 2007 to 2021. She also founded the Metropolitan Leadership Academy to cultivate and develop future leaders within the organization.
Spence has earned numerous awards for her civic engagement including her selection as a member of the Leadership Greater Chicago Fellows Class of 2013, the Rainbow PUSH Dr. King/President Johnson Faith in Politics: Game Changer Visionary Service Award, the Chicago Defender’s Women of Excellence Award, State Farm’s “Go To Bat” Community Service Award, the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Chicago’s Community Service Leadership Award and the All Stars Project of Chicago Community Spirit Award.
She is a graduate of the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership program. Her civic involvement extends to organizations such as Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the National Association of Social Workers, the National Association of Black Social Workers, and the Lake Shore (Ill) Chapter of The Links, Inc., among others.
Spence holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
