Brenda Asare

President and CEO, The Alford Group
Vice-Chair, The Giving Institute

Brenda Asare, as President & CEO of The Alford Group, has led the way to work with clients in taking their organizations to the next level by building their capacity, strengthening their boards, creating donor-centered relationships and elevating the culture of generosity to support bold visions to impact communities in more meaningful ways. She has partnered with clients in her decade at Alford to raise over $2 billion to create game-changing results to fuel their visions, including the $1billion campaign for the Chicago CommunityTrust.

Brenda brings over 30 years of not-for-profit management and resource development experience. Prior to joining The Alford Group, she was Chief Development Officer with the American Red Cross in Chicago where she spearheaded their campaign to build the country's first Disaster Operations Center. She also headed up various disaster fundraising efforts raising over $100 million. There she recruited and mentored talented development professionals who have gone on to work as leaders in the non-profit sector.

Brenda is a national leader in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work in the non-profit sector, serving on the Association of Fundraising Professionals IDEA Board and has conducted numerous national webinars and presented at conferences across the country.

Brenda is a Vice Chair for The Giving Institute, an association and its members dedicated to promoting the core values of ethics, excellence and thought leadership in advancing philanthropy for the sector. The Giving Institute is the primary sponsor of the Giving USA publication. She was recognized as a Notable Minority in Consulting by Chicago Crain’s Business.