Benilda (Benny) Samuels, M.A.

Vice President of Programs, Rose Community Foundation

Denver

Benny Samuels serves as Vice President of Programs for Rose Community Foundation where she oversees and directs the staff of the programs department in granting approximately $10 million annually in the seven-county Greater Denver area.

Samuels most recently served as the chief operating officer for Nurse-Family Partnership, which serves more than 36,000 young women and their babies in 41 states and 6 tribal nations in the U.S. As COO, she managed a $15M budget and led teams in developing and implementing strategic plans, expanding and scaling their programs, leveraging philanthropic partnerships and investments, and piloting feedback loops to capture the insights of their clients and drive innovation. Prior to becoming COO, she served as Nurse-Family Partnership’s Chief Marketing Officer.

Benny is a seasoned bilingual and multicultural executive leader with 25 years of experience developing and implementing communications campaigns and health programs that engage the hardest to reach populations; including teens, poor men of color, the underserved, Native Americas, and the working poor. Benny was the administrator of the Denver project to reduce unintended pregnancies (a 40% reduction in Colorado), and she led various campaigns to increase access to publicly sponsored health care (Medicaid, the Child Health Plan Plus and sliding scale discount programs) for the uninsured. Additionally, Benny has consulted with Denver Public Schools on campaigns to recruit teachers and administrators of color; and with the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment on strategic communications to increase awareness of the new Marihuana laws with Latino families in Colorado. Benny also led the 125th anniversary celebration of the first United Way in the world, Mile High United Way in Denver. Her career in communications began in advertising, where she handled local accounts such as McDonald’s and the Colorado Lottery.

Benny holds a master’s degree in Mass Communications from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and an undergraduate degree from Denver University in Graphic Design. She is a native of Panama and is married to a retired firefighter/paramedic. They have one son, Sergio, a senior at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. They live in Denver with their mutt, Oreo.