AFP Member Spotlight: Tony Spearman Leach

AFP Member Spotlights are a recurring series of interviews with AFP members, highlighting the unique individuals and career paths that exist within the fundraising profession. If you know an inspiring fundraising professional who deserves to be featured, please email [email protected].

In this member spotlight, we interviewed Tony Spearman-Leach, senior director of institutional advancement at the National Academy of Public Administration. He reflects on his nonlinear path into fundraising, the cross sector partnerships and innovations that have shaped his career, and why values like resilience, inclusion, and relationship driven leadership continue to ground and inspire his work.

Q: How did you start your career in the fundraising profession and what led you there?
A: My path into fundraising was not a straight line, and I am grateful for that. I began my career in public service and public affairs, including work connected to politics, government, and civic leadership. Over time, I moved into roles at the intersection of communications, community impact, and institution-building. Along the way, I found myself drawn to the place where mission meets momentum: helping organizations earn trust, articulate outcomes, and invite people into purpose with clarity and dignity.

To me, that is fundraising at its best. It is not simply the pursuit of resources. It is the practice of building relationships that make public good possible. That belief came into sharp focus at the 2013 ICON plenary session, when I served as AFP’s inaugural Diversity Scholar and told my fellow AFP members, “we make the dreams and visions of others come true!” That aspect of our profession continues to give me the greatest satisfaction.

Q: When and why did you decide to become an AFP member?
A: I decided to become an AFP member because I was looking for a professional home where I could gain practical insights, build skills, and benefit from mentorship and camaraderie. AFP has helped me grow with the profession, not just work inside it. It is a community rooted in ethical practice, continuous learning, and a shared responsibility to strengthen nonprofits for the long term. I also value AFP as a place where the field can keep moving forward on inclusion, leadership development, and professional excellence.

AFP’s commitment to being inclusive and welcoming has mattered to me personally. AFP Global gave me the opportunity to become an inaugural ICON Diversity Scholar in 2013 and later to serve on the AFP IDEA: Diversity Scholarship Task Force. I was also honored to support the next generation of fundraising leaders through the collegiate chapter committee, now the chapter support committee. For more than a decade, I have remained active in AFP Global’s African-American/Black Affinity Group, and that connection led me to join the African American Development Officers network founded by Birgit Burton, the first African American woman elected chair of the AFP Global board. AFP is my professional home. 

Q: Are you doing anything innovative at your organization (or a past organization) that you think other fundraisers could benefit from?
A: One innovation I return to repeatedly is building partnerships that multiply impact. I am well known for connecting synergistic opportunities among peer nonprofits, as well as between nonprofits and the corporate community. While serving as Montgomery Community Media’s founding director of development, I partnered with the Montgomery County Public Libraries of Maryland to harness the potential of multimedia youth training and engagement. Together, we secured both the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read and the Comcast NBCUniversal Project Innovation grants.

I have also worked to translate history and values into modern civic engagement. As part of the capital campaign efforts to establish the Josiah Henson Museum and Park in North Bethesda, Maryland, I conceived and launched the Josiah Henson Leadership Conference to connect the relevance of Josiah Henson’s life and values to the contemporary challenges facing residents and community leaders in the region and throughout Maryland. I am very proud of the museum that we built together and humbled to continue to serve as its advisory board chair.

Another example came from my time at Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and Culture, where I created the concept, scripted, and cast the talent for the Emmy Award winning Black History Month PSA series sought by Toyota and Fox Sports Net. My intention was to refocus African American history as inescapably contiguous with traditionally understood U.S. history. Those PSAs aired nationally within the broadcasts of Detroit Pistons games, and I remain proud of the rippling impact they continue to have.

At the core of these experiences is a simple belief: as fundraisers we must become force multipliers. We must seek out synergistic and symbiotic relationships in our ecosphere to establish sustainable successes. That is why I have leaned into treating fundraising as a fully integrated revenue and relationship system, not a separate lane.

Q: What is your favorite word? (only one word) How has this word influenced or inspired your career?
A: “Resilience”. Resilience has influenced my career by keeping me persistent, determined, and committed to learning, especially when something does not work the first time. It aligns with my “fail forward” mindset, reminding me that growth often comes through setbacks and that progress requires steady effort. Resilience also reinforces my focus on tying every ask to a real plan, because clarity builds confidence. It encourages me to invest in community and mentorship, since our profession is strongest when we develop one another rather than compete in isolation. Resilience is also the companion to my second favorite word, “Adaptability.” Together, resilience and adaptability help me find fundraising success.

Q: What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
A: I am most proud of work that creates durable capacity, not just a strong year. During my most recent five years at the National Academy of Public Administration, I helped lead the attainment of more than $21.5 million to support research and public-impact work. I also helped build an internal culture of giving by launching a comprehensive endowment effort that has raised nearly $4 million toward a $5 million goal. What matters most to me is that this kind of work strengthens an institution’s ability to serve our nation’s communities with independence, quality, and staying power.

Q: How has being an AFP member benefited you in your career? 
A: Being an AFP member has benefited me by giving me a professional community where I can gain practical insights, improve skills, draw on mentorship, and meet friends in fundraising. Through AFP, I have engaged fundraising legends such as Simone Joyaux, ACFRE, Tom Ahern, and Bob Carter of Carter Global. AFP also introduced me to my tribal leaders and mentors: AADO’s founder Birgit Burton, Ken Miller, CFRE, Tycely Williams, Jaye Lopez Van Soest, CFRE, and Juan A. McGruder, Ph.D.

AFP invited me to learn and be a servant leader through the AFP IDEA: Diversity Scholarship Task Force and the collegiate chapter committee. Through numerous continuing education courses and ongoing training, I have been able to grow into the fundraising executive that I am today. That growth has allowed me to pay it forward by teaching philanthropy and civil society for the US State Department’s IVLP program.

AFP keeps me grounded in ethical practice, continuous learning, and a shared responsibility to strengthen nonprofits for the long term. It has also reinforced my commitment to inclusion, leadership development, and professional excellence. It all began in 2013 as AFP Global’s inaugural diversity scholar, and today I am forever grateful to AFP Global and its members.

Q: In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge facing the nonprofit fundraising profession today?
A: I believe the biggest challenge is sustaining trust and stability in an era of disruption. Nonprofits are navigating shifting funding patterns, rising expectations for measurable impact, and real fatigue among donors and communities. The opportunity inside that challenge is to respond with disciplined clarity: clearer outcomes, stronger stewardship, and a deeper commitment to relationship-based fundraising that treats supporters as partners in mission.

Q: What advice do you have for other fundraising professionals?
A: My advice is to stay persistent and keep learning. I have always believed in “fail forward,” because growth often comes from what did not work the first time. Enroll in new continuing education courses to discover innovative solutions and further open your mind to new fundraising ideas.

Second, tie every ask to a real plan. Clarity builds confidence. Third, invest in community and mentorship, because our profession is strongest when we are developing one another, not competing in isolation.

Finally, never forget that fundraising is an invitation. When you lead with dignity, good data, and a clear story of impact, people will often surprise you with their generosity.