Jennifer M. Acree

About

Jennifer Acree serves as director of the Mott Foundation’s Flint Area grantmaking program. She joined Mott as an associate program officer in 2013, was promoted to program officer in 2018 and became program director in 2026. She has managed the program’s arts and culture grantmaking portfolio, played a lead role in the Focus on Flint initiative, and supported many grantees with flexible and responsive grants during both the Flint water crisis and COVID-19 pandemic.

Acree amassed considerable knowledge about the area’s nonprofit sector as the former director of a Flint capacity-building program, the BEST Project. A Michigan native who grew up in Vermont, she’s a graduate of Syracuse University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in international relations. She returned to Michigan to earn a master’s in social work with a concentration in nonprofit management and organizational development from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Like many Foundation staff, Acree has worked in several fields, including higher education and the nonprofit sector. She has a special affinity for art, culture, and the positive impacts they can have on individuals and communities. Acree is the proud parent of a son who shares her love for the visual and performing arts, and who can often be found drawing a pirate ship or performing with a local theater group.