Lenora Henry, MPA '14
Executive Director of the Baltimore City Chamber of Commerce
June 21, 2022
At a time when Baltimore’s businesses are struggling to regain their pre-pandemic footing, a University of Baltimore graduate is making history as the Baltimore City Chamber of Commerce’s first female executive director.
It’s just the kind of challenge Lenora Henry, MPA ’14, craves.
“I didn't look at it from the standpoint of being the first female. I looked at it as an opportunity for me to really help others. And it has been such a rewarding experience. To this day, I wake up every day with a smile on my face,” she says.
A lifelong Baltimorean, Henry hopes to put the relationships she’s been building to make what’s already a small community feel closer.
“I've always been involved with various organizations—and I just I look at it from the standpoint that relationships are lifetime, and relationships can bring people together and I want to be able to be that advocate, be that voice, and let our business owners and our entrepreneurs know that the chamber is here.”
Henry started pursuing a master’s degree later in life. She was 43 when she arrived at UBalt, and found her cohort ranged in age from her to students in their 20s, fresh from their undergraduate studies. Henry, however, is a people person and fit right in.
“Age wasn't a factor. I just love the fact that I can be in the classroom with younger people. They are just so full of energy and excitement and what they want to do for the community and for the city, and it just pushed me even harder to get through the program.”
She was able to bring her experience to the classroom—a unique characteristic not uncommon at UBalt.
“I think, for me, as a seasoned individual who has been in the nonprofit sector for a while, I was able to bring some of my experiences to the classroom. And we were just all able to really collaborate very well about different opportunities that we could do in the nonprofit sector.”
Henry felt she gained as much as she gave.
“Everything I'm doing today is everything that I pretty much learned in the MPA program,” she said.
While she had experience working with nonprofits, she didn’t have experience running one. UBalt’s program taught her about human resources management, strategic development, budgeting and leadership.
Serving nonprofits has long been a passion for Henry. She thrives in the creative-thinking, problem-solving world that working with nonprofits demand. Eventually, she hopes to start her own nonprofit to support women and children affected by intimate partner violence.
Her new post with the Chamber is a perfect step in that direction.
Henry comes to the Chamber with a slightly new background from previous executive directors, but not the obvious one. She won’t simultaneously be running a business in Baltimore; she will be working for the Chamber full time.
“I'm able to give 150% and more into this position,” she says. “I wake up in the morning, start my job and I finish the clock sometimes meeting with volunteers because I have to be available for them during the day. I want people to know that I'm committed to this position … I'm here for them, and I'm really, really trying to put the chamber back on the map.”
One goal of Henry’s is to build better relationships with other local civic organizations, such as the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, the Greater Baltimore Committee and the Greater Baltimore Black Chamber of Commerce.
“There are so many things that we can do together, and we can allow our Chamber members to share and to network and to benefit.”
Particularly as businesses dig themselves out of the economic troubles the pandemic created, Henry says, a push to support local business is a job for the entire community. She relayed a story about running into another city leader in the Black Swan restaurant and how their discussion turned to the idea that they, as leaders in the city, need to help set the example and encourage others to follow suit. Already, she’s been seeing signs of life re-emerge.
“We need to support our businesses. ... I think people have to understand that, yes, we were closed up in our homes for two years because of Covid, but now's the time to get out and really support our local businesses,” she says. “I want city residents to see us out there in the community and see that we are supporting one another. I definitely want our local businesses to see that.”
Henry believes Baltimore’s business community has characteristics unmatched elsewhere. She knows there are people who agree with her. Now, she hopes to use her role to get more people to recognize that.
“We've got amazing people that are thriving, who have been successful, who started at the bottom and worked their way up. People are coming back to Baltimore to open up their businesses, even if they've graduated from other schools out of state. It just always feels like home, no matter what, people make you feel like you're a part of a family.”
Written by Kristi Moore