Kelly Spence
Kelly Spence is Co-Founder and Principal of Four Corners Global Consulting Group. Her areas of expertise include strategic growth, program development, strategic planning, and program measurement and evaluation.
For 20 years, Kelly has led international development and human rights programs with U.S.-based and international non-profit organizations and academic institutions. At Four Corners, Kelly works closely with overseas and US-based non-profits, philanthropies, and academic organizations to support program evaluations, program design, and strategic planning efforts. She enjoys facilitating in-person and virtual workshops and trainings on evaluation, program design, strategic planning, and data equity. Prior to founding Four Corners, Kelly served as a member of Heartland Alliance International’s (HAI) senior leadership team, driving the organization’s rapid growth for nearly seven years. She built the first-ever External Relations Department, leading the development and implementation of HAI’s external relations and fundraising strategies. She doubled HAI's unrestricted fundraising revenues in one fiscal year, and oversaw a 500% increase in unrestricted revenue over the course of three years. Furthermore, she led HAI’s largest and most successful benefit, featuring Secretary Hillary Clinton as keynote speaker, Governor JB Pritzker, and other high-level speakers and attendees, which surpassed all fundraising, attendance, and sponsorship goals and increased revenue by more than 50 percent. During her tenure with HAI, Kelly also built the Program Development department, overseeing HAI’s program design and grant submission processes. In this role, she led a global team that submitted over 60 high-quality funding proposals a year to US, multilateral, bilateral, and foundation donors. She was also instrumental in the creation, launch, and successful execution of HAI’s five-year strategic plan.
Kelly has dedicated her career to human rights and social justice through other roles including: supporting governance and democracy strengthening in West Africa; raising awareness around women and global development issues at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs; conducting HIV/AIDS research in Africa at Program of African Studies at Northwestern University; and supporting Girls’ Education and Empowerment as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo.
Kelly earned a B.A. in Chinese and Anthropology from Bates College and a M.S. in International Conflict Management from Georgetown University. She speaks fluent French and conversational Mandarin Chinese. In her free time, Kelly enjoys spending time with her husband, three children, and very energetic dog, traveling, reading, camping, running, and attempting to cook.