Meet the Team

Ahndrea L. Blue, Esquire

President/CEO

Ahndrea is the president and CEO of Pinnacle Equities Investments, (2002) a private equity investment firm., realizing 500 percent of its assets within one year.  Ahndrea is also the Founder, President, and CEO of The Making A Difference Foundation (2003).

Prior to establishing her own business, Ahndrea was the Washington States Governor’s Executive Policy Advisor and Legal Counsel.  Additionally, she worked for the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle as their Chief Operating Officer, and was an attorney at law for Lee, Smart, Cook, Martin & Patterson, in Seattle.

Ms. Blue has a Bachelor of Arts degrees in African American Studies and Society and Justice, from the University of Washington, receiving quarterly and yearly honors.  She also obtained her Juris Doctorate, from the University of Washington, School of Law.

Ms. Blue has a wealth of professional and scholastic honors, including Washington State Bar Association, YLD, Thomas Nevelle Pro Bono Award ;  Minority Academic Achievement Scholarship ; Derrick Bell Academic Achievement Award; Earl Warren Legal Academic Achievement Scholarship; Royal Esquire Academic Achievement Scholarship; Myra Davis Hemming Academic Achievement Award; Black Professional Aeronautical Academic Achievement Award; Alpha Phi Sigma Honor Society ; Minority Affairs Black Achievement Award.

Ahndrea received the Ford Freedom’s Sisters Civil Rights Award, 2012 Redeeming the Prophet Vision Social Award, Finalist for the 2012 Black Change Maker Award, Black Celebrity Giving, the 2011 Jefferson “Public Service” Award and 2010 Attorney Community Service Award from the Washington State Bar Association,  She is also the 2008 recipient of National Black Philanthropist of the Year Award.  She has also been featured in the King County Bar Association Newsletter Article “Pro Bono Heroes,” Who’s Who in Executives and Businesses; and Ebony Magazine Article, “30 Leaders, 30 and Under”.  She has also been a Key Note Speaker, Family Policy Annual Conference; Speaker, Washington State Church of God In Christ Women Convention; Speaker, Washington State Church of God in Christ Annual Convention; and Speaker, National Urban League Convention.

She has published articles such as Seasons, Central Area Senior Service Center;  Hanging Together, Central Area Senior Service Center Annual Report; Is Society Colorblind?  African American Business and Employment Journal; Who Is Going to Educate Our Children? African American Business and Employment Journal.

Ms. Blue also has affiliations with: Washington State Bar Association, Board Member; Washington Food Coalition (2018-Present); Food Lifeline Coalition (2017), Board Member; Matt Talbott Center (2009-2011), Board Member; Board Member, New Futures;  Committee Member, Washington State Bar Association Diversity Committee, University of Washington, Friends of Equal Opportunity Program; New Life Baptist Church;  Steering Community for Access to Technology; Washington State Advisory Committee of School Safety; Board Member, Lifelong Aid Alliance; Board Member, BRIDGE; Families for Kids; Vice President, Gender, and Justice, Washington Women Lawyers; Attorney General Bullying Task Force; Commissioner, City of Seattle Women’s Commission; Executive Committee Member/Co-chair of Legal Redress Committee NAACP, Seattle Branch; Vice President, Youth Chaplaincy Program; Board Member, Chicken Soup Brigade; Vice President/Board Member, Central Area Senior Service Center; Steering Committee Member, NO! I-200; U.S Justice Department Weed and Seed Advisory Committee; Chief Seattle Council Boy Scouts of America, Urban Emphasis Committee; Board Member, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle; King County Women Lawyers Association; Loren Miller Bar Association; Sub-Regional Director, Black Law Students Association; Phi Alpha Delta International Legal Fraternity; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Ahndrea loves traveling around the world performing missionary work in places such as Peru, Chile, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, and Haiti.

Ms. Blue purpose in life is to make a difference in thelives of others.  She credits her faith in God, and her loving and supporting family and friends for her success.  She is a living example that God is faithful in all things

Chris Morgan

Accountant

Chris is the accountant for The Making A Difference Foundation, and a Tacoma native.  She attended Central Washington State University receiving BA in both Sociology and Anthropology. Upon graduation, she worked as a Social Worker for ten years with handicapped and at-risk youth populations.  She returned to school to receive her BA in Accounting with a specialty in non-profit and small business.   Outside of work, you will find her at the Theater or on the Wallyball court at the YMCA, or volunteering her time by serving on several Not for Profit Boards.

Shelly Spencer

Grant Writer

Shelly is the grant writer for Making A Difference Foundation. Shelly has been a copywriter for the past 25 years with a specialty in grant writing for various non-profit organizations for the past 17. She has written proposals to federal, state, local, and foundation funders earning clients $15+ million in grant and contract funding in the housing, homelessness, hunger, and domestic violence sectors, to name a few.

Shelly is a native to the Puget Sound area being born and raised on Vashon Island and graduating school in Federal Way. She enjoys spending time with her two kids as well as reading, writing, spending time outdoors hiking, floating the river, hanging out at the lake, and practicing photography on the side.

Iris A. Perez

Home Delivery and Mobile Food Bank Manager

Iris A. Perez is the Home Delivery and Mobile Food Bank manager, having joined the organization in August of 2022. They moved to Tacoma two years ago from Oakland California after falling for the beauty that is the Pacific Northwest. The COVID-19 pandemic stirred a desire to change career paths towards mutual aid and community work.

They come from 20 years of large-scale event production, from stagehand, warehouse worker, audio engineer and arena rigger to coordination of all departments, running over a hundred corporate and concert events a year. They bring their experience of logistics and appreciation for collaboration while addressing challenges head-on. Upon arrival to this city, they worked with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s COVID-19 response, organizing pop-up vaccine clinics at community centers, schools and churches, which gave them the opportunity to appreciate the care of one’s neighbor that is deeply felt in this city.

Iris has spent much of their life as an artist, is proudly part of the LGBTQ community, and has a deep love for their Puerto Rican roots and their chosen family. They believe mutual aid, compassion and dignity for all humans should start with supporting the most vulnerable, and they are grateful for the opportunity to support MADF in this work.