Grace Y. Foster, MBA (She/Her)
Head of Development for National Non-Profit
Board Member
Grace was born in Seoul, South Korea and orphaned at a very young age. At about 5 years old, she immigrated into Wisconsin and experienced foster care and was eventually adopted into a growing family of 19 adopted children. Her experiences as an immigrant, foster child, person of color in a very homogeneous community, taught Grace to embrace the support of community to overcome hardships. She persevered for 9 years to finish her undergraduate degree and realized serving and empowering others with similar experiences to hers was what she was meant to do. Grace enrolled at NYU Stern School of Business to further her mission in serving others. She is a champion of people of color, empowering women in the workplace, and a big believer that one ordinary person can have a tremendous impact with the right opportunity.
In her 20’s, Grace began her journey towards becoming an athlete. She found weight lifting and running to be a catalyst for her mental health and building a healthy, sustainable lifestyle for both her and her partner. She completed her first marathon in 2016 and competed in her first CrossFit competition in 2015. She ran her first half marathon with her partner in 2021. Grace is now hooked, as she has completed 6 marathons so far. Sports have taught her to stretch her limits, how amazing the human body and mind really are, and how it’s never too late to aspire to be something you never thought possible. Grace dreams of reaching 10 marathons completed and aspires to be an Iron Man athlete in the future.
Currently, Grace is the head of development for a national nonprofit and is a proud alumnae of NYU’s Stern School of Business where she has earned her MBA with specializations in: Sustainability in Business and Leadership & Change Management. She’s also a proud community college graduate and an alumnae of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She aims to be a part of Leveling the Playing Field for people of color and marginalized people in the social impact sector.
Personal: Marathoner, Competitive Weightlifter, Healthy Lifestyle Advocate, Amateur (and pretty darn good) Baker, Foodie, Dog Parent, Public Servant, Artist, Crime, Mystery and Sci-Fi Fan, Devoted Partner, and About-to-Be First-Time Mom.