Wendy Foster
Professional Affiliation: President and CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay
Background and Community Activities:
Wendy brings more than three decades of executive leadership in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay. Wendy joined the agency twelve years ago as Vice President for Program Services and has been Chief Executive Officer for nine years. She leverages top-level management experience as well as project, systems and technology development skills in support of the over 3,100 children the agency serves annually today – and the thousands more the agency is scaling to reach. Under her leadership, the agency has grown service to children by more than 50%.
Prior to her work in the nonprofit sector, Wendy served as a senior executive with America Online (AOL) and was Marketing Director for New Product Development at Time-Life Inc., a division of Time-Warner. She began her career in direct response advertising with the country’s leading agency, Wunderman.
Wendy is nationally recognized for her leadership within the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America federation, and most recently served as Vice Chair of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Nationwide Leadership Council and co-chair of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Large Agency Alliance.
Wendy is a member of the Program Leadership Council of the Massachusetts Mentoring Partnership, the LeadBoston Class of 2010, The Boston Club and the Massachusetts Women’s Forum. She serves on a number of boards including YWCA Boston, the Massachusetts Women’s Forum and the Big Brothers Big Sisters Foundation. Wendy received the 2017 Pinnacle Award for Nonprofit Management from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Women’s Network Advisory Board.
Wendy is a Big Sister to Little Sister, Shanell. They have been matched for seven years.
Wendy holds an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and an M.B.A from The George Washington University.