Dr. Denecia Spence is an educator and systems strategist whose work centers on transforming lived experience into structural change. Her approach bridges individual development with system-level design, advancing solutions that are both deeply responsive and scalable across communities.

She leads the development of trauma-informed frameworks that strengthen human capital, expand access, and create sustainable pathways for young people and families to thrive within and beyond traditional systems. Her work prioritizes prevention, aligning care, education, and opportunity into integrated models that deliver both immediate support and long-term impact.

She brings to Sankofa Rising a global, regional, and local perspective, designing models that leverage existing infrastructure while modernizing environments to better serve students and communities. Through this lens, she builds systems of care, protection, and opportunity that are efficient, adaptable, and built for scale.

Her work is grounded in a commitment to closing opportunity gaps by creating environments where support is intentional, expectations are clear, and success is actively cultivated. She is particularly focused on designing systems that not only respond to need but reshape the conditions that produce inequity.

Her leadership positions Sankofa Rising to translate vision into measurable, enduring impact, advancing a model that strengthens communities, informs policy, and drives sustainable change across local, regional, and global contexts.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER & GLOBAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR