Brenda Gerber Vincent

Brenda Gerber Vincent joined GFW Inc. in 2017 as chief impact officer. She is committed to creating quality and equity of place for all through economic development, programming, and leadership. In her role as chief impact officer, she manages investor services, community and corporate partnerships, signature programs, advocacy, communications, and more.

Brenda served as a Governor-appointed Indiana Bicentennial Commissioner and serves on numerous committees and boards including Love Fort Wayne, IU-Fort Wayne Advisory Board, the Vera Bradley Foundation, the Carriage House, and the Parkview Regional Medical Center.

Brenda was the only representative from northeast Indiana appointed by Governor Holcomb to serve on the Opportunity Zones Task Force, a federal initiative to bring private-sector investments to low-income areas in Fort Wayne and northeast Indiana.

A proud fourth-generation Fort Wayne native, she received her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, where she continues to serve on the Indiana University Board of Associates for the Student Foundation. Besides her husband and children, she considers her single greatest achievement co-founding the Carriage House, a rehabilitation facility established to restore seriously mentally ill persons to maximum social and employment functioning.

Brenda is an alumna of the Aspen Institute for Global Leadership, has appeared on CNN, and has been featured in numerous publications. She was the first woman in northeast Indiana to be awarded the prestigious “Heart of Indiana – Torchbearer Award,” a recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash, Indiana’s highest civilian honor and most recently awarded the Dr. Daryl Yost Community Impact Award.