Jena Nardella
cofounder | Blood:Water and Jars of Clay
Jena believes deeply in building the durability and sustainability of nonprofit organizations and leaders.
At the age of 21, she cofounded Blood:Water alongside the band, Jars of Clay. Under her leadership, the organization raised more than $20M to provide grants to grassroots organizations addressing HIV/AIDS and water in sub-Saharan Africa. Jena 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 serves on the boards of Blood:Water and the Equitas Group and spends her Sunday afternoons in a Santa Clara County Jail teaching writing courses to inmates. Jena graduated from Whitworth University with a degree in political studies. She and her husband, James, have two children and live in the San Francisco Bay Area.