About Me

Summer Spencer is a Director with Community Wealth Ventures, and is experienced in the private, nonprofit and public sectors.  She is experienced in planning, organizing and implementing multiple projects and programs with diverse and competing demands to ensure that they operate effectively and is often seen as a “convener” who has been able to secure the support and cooperation of various stakeholders on a myriad of projects. 

Summer graduated from the University of Richmond with a degree in accounting. While working as a CPA at Grant Thornton LLP, she realized that she had another passion. Summer began volunteering at a homeless shelter in Northern Virginia, where she worked with the residents on a weekly basis to help them look for jobs, write resumes and prepare for interviews.  She enjoyed this volunteer activity so much that Summer decided to make a full-time career of it.  She began working in the employment department of Community Family Life Services (CFLS) in Washington, DC, where she helped prepare individuals to reenter the workforce. While at CFLS, Summer also started working with other local providers who were meeting monthly to share information about the various activities in the workforce development field. Workforce Organizations for Regional Collaboration (WORC) was formed as a result of these monthly meetings, and Summer served as its first executive director.

In April 2005, WORC became an affiliate of Goodwill of Greater Washington, an organization that educates, trains, and employs people with disadvantages and disabilities, creating a stronger workforce and a more vital community.  Summer served as the Vice President of Training and Employment for Goodwill of Greater Washington, while still retaining her position as executive director of WORC during her tenure with the two organizations. 

In April 2007, Summer was appointed by Mayor Adrian Fenty as the Director of the Department of Employment Services (DOES) for the District of Columbia.  At DOES – the local “state” Department of Labor – she worked closely with the staff to ensure that the proper infrastructure, policies, processes and controls were in place to effectively and efficiently run the multi-million dollar entity.  Summer vastly increased community outreach and presence to rebuild constituents’ trust in the agency and ensured that the appropriate stakeholders were engaged in all projects in order to use their input to improve operations.

In May 2007, Summer was listed in Washingtonian magazine as one of the "40 People Under 40 to Watch."