Staff: Adrienne Popeney

Adrienne Popeney’s passion and journey have centered on empowering young people to fulfill their potentials by creating more equitable systems and ensuring adults are positioned to uplift them. She joined Friends of the Children in January of 2023 and brings an extensive background in the mentoring field and national nonprofit networks. At Friends of the Children, Adrienne promotes network-wide collaboration to advance shared goals and provides individualized support to chapters in support of their success and sustainability.

Before joining Friends, Adrienne served as the Affiliate Network Director at MENTOR National for seven years. At MENTOR, she built the organizational and talent development of the network, serving to improve organizational health of individual affiliates and the collective impact of all staff. Prior to MENTOR, Adrienne managed college access and relationship-based programs for youth in foster care in local Los Angeles organizations. Also, Adrienne managed direct service teams within the national nonprofits, City Year and GEAR UP, empowering students in under-resourced communities with educational attainment.

Adrienne holds a Master of Social Work degree, with a focus in management and planning, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Originally from California, Adrienne now lives in Massachusetts with her husband, two children, and their new rescue pup. They love to explore outdoor activities in all four seasons of the year.