Lucy Brainard

I’m motivated to help our grantees create meaningful learning opportunities for all children, where they can find the balance of joy and rigor in a nurturing environment that allows them to be creative—and ultimately unlock their potential, as our vision states.

Lucy Brainard, Director, Portfolio Success & Operations, leads and manages the vision, goals, strategy, and execution of the Foundation’s Portfolio Success team, equipping grantees with the capacity-building supports they need to achieve cost-effective impact at scale through a tiered support model.

She previously worked at TripAdvisor as the Social Impact Program and Events Coordinator, where she provided coordination for employee giving and volunteer initiatives, including communicating with and developing new tools and resources for employees and nonprofit partners. Lucy also oversaw the planning and execution of Global Volunteer Month for 3,500 employees in 34 international offices, including the TripGives Ambassador program. In 2012, she founded Orkeeswa’s Angels, a social enterprise that employs 150 local Maasai women in Tanzania to make beaded angels, jewelry, and ornaments, with all proceeds covering school fees for students at Orkeeswa Secondary School.

Lucy received a B.A. in International Affairs from Northeastern University. In her free time, Lucy enjoys watching and playing sports, experiencing new food and places, and spending quality time with her close friends, family, and dog, Juno.