Ms. Clark serves as president and CEO of the Boston Arts Academy Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that secures essential private funding to support Boston Arts Academy, the city's only public high school for visual and performing arts. Since 2018, she has led the effort in raising approximately $31M as part of a $35M comprehensive campaign ending in June 2025. Clark introduced the now signature fundraising event BAAF Honors, dubbed "The Kennedy Center Honors of Boston," to celebrate all areas of performing arts. The school is dedicated to a vocational education in which an arts degree will support innovation, artificial intelligence, and creative art content in the workforce. Eighty-four percent of the school's 510 students identify as Black or Latinx, most students come from families with low-incomes, and many become first-generation college graduates. For ten consecutive years, 97% of graduating students who applied to college have been accepted. More than 1,700 of Boston Arts Academy's diverse and talented alumni are innovating and leading in a variety of careers in Greater Boston and beyond. Their graduates have achieved fantastic success, including actress Diane Guerrero from the hit series Orange is the New Black and Disney's Encanto and popular photographer and digital creator Yuder Luis Mezerene Aldi.
About Denella
“Fiercely Committed to Equity, Inclusion and Raising
Revenue to advance the Public Good.”
Ms. Clark is a proud Jamaican immigrant and Boston, MA resident (Hyde Park). She has more than 30 years of experience managing nonprofits in the arts education, academic medicine, youth development, and human services sectors. She also has significant experience with public policy and legislation, specifically related to women and people of color. She is recognized as a transformative and respected leader in diversity, philanthropy, faith, youth, and women's issues, and she prides herself on living a purposeful life. Ms. Clark believes strongly that all young people should be given the opportunities they deserve to live the life they imagine. Ms. Clark's approach to much of her work focuses on the four C's – communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and community. Ms. Clark consistently appears in the media, such as in the Boston Globe and on local TV, radio, and podcasts. She appears on influential lists such as Boston Magazine's 150 Most Influential Bostonians. She has also been recognized as one of seven honorees in 2024 for the Boston Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business. Ms. Clark also delivers dynamic keynote speaking programs as a public speaker.
Ms. Clark has served on numerous Boards and is currently the Chair of the Board of Trustees at Fontbonne, The Early College of Boston. This Catholic preparatory and early college serves young women in grades 7-12 throughout Greater Boston and the South Shore. Ms. Clark also has served on former Mayor Marty Walsh's City of Boston Racial Equity Committee, Mayor Janey's Executive Transition Committee, and as Co-Chair of Mayor Janey's Campaign. She serves on the NBC Universal Community Council and Red Cross Leadership Council, is a Massachusetts Women's Forum member, and is the co-chair for the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute's $25M Campaign for Peace. Ms. Clark is also a lifetime member of the NAACP.
Earlier in her career, Clark was a part of the leadership team at Joslin Diabetes Center's successful $100M capital campaign and led the Dimock Center's first $25M campaign. She has secured eight, seven, and six-figure gifts throughout her career to help transform and advance missions.
In April 2016, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker appointed Ms. Clark to the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women (MCSW), a volunteer Board whose purpose is to advance women and girls toward total equity in all areas of life and to promote rights and opportunities for all women and girls. She served as vice-chair and treasurer, and in June 2020, MCSW members elected Ms. Clark as Chair, becoming the first woman of color to serve in this role. In 2021, she also led the organization through a transition and search process for a new Executive Director. Ms. Clark served as the day-to-day leader responsible for governance, management, and financial oversight. In 2022, Ms. Clark was appointed Chair of the 25th Anniversary Commission, leading the commission's historic celebration. Ms. Clark and the MCSW successfully advocated for the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act, signed into law in 2016 and effective as of July 1, 2018. To implement the Equal Pay Act, Ms. Clark and the MCSW supported Just Ask! salary negotiation workshops and facilitator training, empowering women to ask for the salaries and benefits they deserve throughout their careers. She continues to speak locally and nationally on equal pay and is working on additional legislation to ensure the law meets its full potential.
Ms. Clark, a member of Boston Magazine's '150 Most Influential Bostonians' in 2024 and 2023, is a passionate advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Her dedication to this field has been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2024 'HerStory of Women' Trailblazer Award from the Garden of Eden and Associates, the 2022 ‘Outstanding Fundraising Professional' award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals-Massachusetts Chapter, and recognition as 'One of the 100 Most Influential Women of Color in Massachusetts.' Her commitment to making a difference has also been honored by the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, NAACP, and Partners HealthCare, among others. Recently, she furthered her expertise by earning a certificate in Nonprofit Management from the Harvard Business School. She has served as a Guest lecturer at the Harvard Divinity School and Presenter and Panelist at the 39th Annual Fundraising Day in Boston for the Association of Fundraising Professionals (March 2024).
Of her many titles, the one of which she is most proud is Mommy-in-Chief! Ms. Clark is the proud mother of a son and daughter, an avid reader, a world traveler, a political junkie, and a fashion lover.
