Brenda Gerber Vincent is a speaker, author and outspoken mental health advocate. Her passions include mentoring the next generation of leaders and creating quality and equity of place through economic development. She currently serves as Vice President of Community and Corporate Impact for Greater Fort Wayne Inc. Brenda has appeared on CNN and has been featured in numerous publications. In 2018, she was the first woman in NE Indiana awarded the prestigious “Heart of Indiana – Torchbearer Award”, and in 2016 received the Sagamore of the Wabash, Indiana’s highest civilian honor.
Before joining GFW Inc., she served as Vice President Mike Pence’s Deputy Finance Director and was Chief of Staff to Second Lady of the United States, Karen Pence, when they served as Governor and First Lady of Indiana.
Brenda served as a Governor appointed, Indiana Bicentennial Commissioner, and serves on numerous boards including, The Board of Governors for the Richard G. Lugar Excellence in Public Service Series, The Carriage House, Parkview Regional Hospital Board, and the “100+ Women Who Care” Steering Committee.
Brenda was the only representative from NE Indiana, appointed by Governor Holcomb, to serve on the newly created Opportunity Zones Task Force, a federal initiative to bring private-sector investments to low-income areas in Indiana.
Brenda is proud to be a 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.