Kendra Waddington: Director of Development

Chicago, IL – Kendra Waddington has joined the MPN Research Foundation as Director of Development. Previously she was Senior Director of Development at Chicago Public Media (WBEZ) where she was responsible for major gifts and planned giving and led a team focused on individual fundraising, stewardship, analysis and reporting, prospect research, and development services.
Prior to joining WBEZ, Kendra consulted with several nonprofits on a variety of projects ranging from new business planning to marketing and communications to systems conversions. She spent the majority of her career at IES Abroad, a global higher education nonprofit headquartered in Chicago. There she held multiple roles leading fundraising and alumni relations, developing new lines of business, conducting institutional research and strategic planning, and managing domestic and international meetings and conferences.
The mission of the MPN Research Foundation is to stimulate original research in pursuit of new treatments - and eventually a cure - for the blood cancers polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, and myelofibrosis, known collectively as myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). MPNRF is celebrating its 20th anniversary of funding research, connecting patients to the latest discoveries, sharing educational resources and building hope.