Her Story
About Jen
Jen Mendoza, MALS, is a nonprofit executive, community builder, and holistic wellness leader with more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She currently serves as the Executive Director of The Aura Foundation, NFP, a role she has held for the past year. In this position, she is leading the launch and strategic development of a growing nonprofit focused on expanding access to mental health support, wellness programming, education, workforce development, and women’s leadership. Her current work centers on building partnerships with aligned organizations and businesses, coordinating community-based programming, and preparing for the Foundation’s official launch in October. She recently hosted her second women’s wellness retreat for 100 participants, with another scheduled for September, alongside multiple community wellness day initiatives designed to bring accessible healing and education directly into the community. Throughout her career, Jen has held several senior leadership roles across nonprofit, civic, and community-based organizations. Prior to her current role, she served as CEO of the Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce, where she launched the “LeadHer” initiative, a program designed to empower women to step into leadership roles and expand their professional influence. She also founded the local chapter of Women Entrepreneurs’ Secrets of Success (WESOS), which quickly became the largest chapter in the network within three months, growing to over 100 members during the pandemic in 2021. Earlier in her career, she worked with World Relief, where she helped resettle refugees and managed multiple offices, and she also served as an executive director for a nonprofit trade association. Across all of these roles, her work has consistently focused on equity, access, and community empowerment. Jen is also the founder of InspiHER: Mind, Body & Business, a women’s empowerment initiative created to integrate wellness, personal development, and entrepreneurship into a unified model of growth. The program was later acquired by The Aura Foundation and now serves as the organization’s Women’s Leadership Pillar, expanding its reach and impact. Under her leadership, The Aura Foundation delivers holistic, trauma-informed, and accessible community services, including free or low-cost wellness offerings such as yoga, sound baths, Reiki, energy healing, acupuncture, massages, and holistic facials. The Foundation also provides mental health support, business and workforce development programs, and leadership training, with a strong focus on underserved communities and women, whom Jen views as central to the strength of families and communities. Alongside her professional work, she is a mother of three and has been married to her husband since her early twenties, building a life rooted in family, service, and community in Aurora, Illinois.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jen
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to perseverance and having a positive outlook. I've learned not to see setbacks or things that happen as setbacks, but to see them as opportunities to realign and rise above. It took time to realize that if something I really wanted didn't come, if there was a position or something I felt I should have gotten and it didn't happen, there was a reason for it. I've learned to just let the universe do what it needs to do and trust the timing and the process of things. I don't give up on myself, and I keep that positive mindset even when things don't go the way I planned.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best piece of advice I've ever received is to never let anyone dim my shine. That's something that has stuck with me throughout my career and personal life, and it's helped me stay true to myself even in difficult situations.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell them to make time for yourself above all. You need to have a clear outline and truly understand what your passion is in order to know what your purpose is. Some people want to work just to have a job because they have to support and pay for things. Others need to have more of a mission-driven purpose with a job or an organization to feel more fulfillment. I realized that's me, because when I was younger, I could only work somewhere for like 3 years at a time until I was like, alright, this is getting old, I gotta do something more. So you need to ask yourself, do you want to do the job or be in the field for what reason? Is it because it seems glamorous to you, or is it because you're really in it for the mission of the organization? Not everyone just gets into nonprofit because there really isn't money necessarily, especially a startup. But if you're people-driven and purpose-driven, and you really want to make a difference and you feel that in your heart, then you've got to know that before you get into this.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge right now is finding ways to truly convey what the Aura Foundation does to those that potentially would want to be interested and want to support us. There's just not enough time in the day to really make all the connections that are needed, and sometimes you find out about things and you're too far behind on applications and things like that. When you're trying to get something off the ground, it can feel less doable in the timeframe you're wanting. We've done a really great job of creating things and having discussions, and everyone we talk to thinks what the foundation's gonna do is fantastic. But until we have a couple of those larger names kind of backing us up, we don't have the credibility of other organizations that have been around for years. We're only 6 months in since we announced the foundation in January, so it's obviously not something that happens overnight. The biggest opportunity is that what the Aura Foundation is and stands for is not like anything anyone has seen. It is unique, and once it does catch on, which it is, it will spread like wildfire. Other areas of the country will hopefully mimic it and do something similar, where you're not just siloing different aspects of personal well-being and care, but you can have a hub of connections that support people where they are.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are honesty, integrity, and organization. These guide everything I do in both my work and personal life.
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