Jena Lee Nardella

Chief Development and Communications Officer

Justice Defenders
After seven years of serving as Partner for the Nonprofit Portfolio at Praxis, Jena has recently joined the executive team of Justice Defenders, a 2017 Nonprofit working globally to train paralegals and lawyers within prisons to provide legal services for themselves and others. During her tenure at Praxis, Jena led the Nonprofit Accelerator Program and served as a primary coach for 100+ Fellows from six cohorts with focus on strategy, team structures, fundraising, governance, and leadership. As a co-author of the Redemptive Nonprofit Playbook, Jena is a passionate advocate for a redemptive rethinking in the nonprofit sector. Previously, Jena served as co-founder and Executive Director of Blood:Water, which she founded alongside the band, Jars of Clay. Under her leadership, the organization raised more than $20M to provide grants to civil society organizations addressing HIV/AIDS and water in sub-Saharan Africa. She recounts her entrepreneurial and spiritual journey in her memoir, One Thousand Wells: How an Audacious Goal Taught Me to Love the World Instead of Save it (2015, Simon & Schuster). Jena graduated from Whitworth University with a degree in political studies. She and her husband, James, have two children and live in Boston.

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