Meet a DCMer: Ayana Akpan

From the fashion industry to fundraising, Ayana brings a storyteller’s perspective and a people person's heart to her work at DCM.

Hear from a long-time manager who was awarded DCM’s 2025 Manager of the Year.

How long have you been with DCM, and what's your title/role?

I've been with DCM since 2016. I'm a Campaign Manager, currently working on the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Roundabout Theatre fundraising campaigns.

Where are you from originally? Where do you live now?

Chicago born and raised. Southside girl all day (much like Michelle Obama!).

How did you end up at DCM? What background did you have before coming to DCM?

My career has mostly been in writing. The job right before I found fundraising was as a fashion writer at a marketing company. I worked at a photography studio where they'd bring in clothing and accessories after a photoshoot, and I'd write the product copy: descriptions, care instructions, all of it. Up to a hundred pieces a day. It had its allure, but after four years, I was burnt out. I love fashion, but I wasn't finding any purpose in that role.

I was browsing the Hyde Park Herald newspaper and saw an ad for a telefundraising position with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I love the orchestra, and something about the listing just spoke to me. I applied, went to Orchestra Hall, and met who would become my first fundraising manager, Oakes Spalding. We clicked immediately, and he gave me a shot.

I honestly didn't expect to last more than a couple of weeks. There were veteran callers on the team, and Oakes only kept a small crew over the summer. But I took to it, and he kept me on. That's when I realized there was something real for me in this line of work.

At the time, the telefundraising campaign was managed by a different company and was eventually taken over by DCM in 2016. A number of us callers made the transition to DCM, including me.

Tell me about your career path at DCM.

I met the legendary manager Jacque Berkaw when I transitioned to DCM, and we clicked right away.

A few months in, she asked me what career path I saw for myself going forward. I told her I wasn’t sure but that I loved writing, creating art, and fundraising. She then encouraged me to move into management and recommended me for DCM's Manager in Training program. I became an Assistant Manager for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s subscription telemarketing campaign toward the end of that program and was promoted to Campaign Manager in 2018.

I stayed on the CSO campaign through 2025. It was a long and meaningful run. Now I'm focused on fundraising for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Roundabout Theatre.

What's your favorite thing about the work you do?

The impact. I really like knowing the impact we have on the arts. COVID taught us how essential music and theater are. Without them, life gets much more mundane. When I think about the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, and Roundabout Theatre, knowing they're in the business of making people happy and that donations help make that possible, it means something to me.

I have also met some of my closest friends through this work. My best friend from the CSO team was in her early seventies when we met, and I was in my late thirties. We were an unlikely pair and remained close until she passed away at 81. I still have friends from the CSO campaign a decade or more later. The friendships, the people, the impact. That's what keeps me going.

What mentors or influences have shaped your career?

Three people come to mind right away. Oakes Spalding, my first manager in telefundraising, was the best manager I've ever had. He had a rare ability to connect with anyone, regardless of their background. He was strictly Catholic, but was genuinely open and curious about people with entirely different lives and beliefs. He exemplified the kind of manager I want to be: find the common ground and lead with humanity.

Then there's Marcia Petlin-Fowler, a caller on the CSO campaign who was simply the best at what she did. She took me under her wing early on. I couldn't sit near her because she'd make me laugh too much, so I'd listen from the next table and pick up on her pearls of wisdom. She's a big reason I became a manager.

And Jacque Berkaw, my first manager at DCM, who saw something in me before I saw it in myself and gave me my shot.

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

Cats, first and foremost. I have four of them, and previously had five. I'm also a registered cat colony caretaker through PAWS Chicago, which means I look after a colony of community cats on our property. We have four or five outdoor shelters and anywhere from ten to twelve cats coming through every day.

Beyond that, I write. Poetry especially. Reading, being reflective, and writing about my own life and experiences make me happy.

Do you have any skills, achievements, or passions that we might not know about?

I love making art: sketching, drawing, photography. I also see fashion as art, and I've been slowly working on my own collection of clothing with my artwork on it. The dream is to sell it in a store someday.

Can you tell me two fun, unexpected facts about yourself?

1. As a kid, I once met Sammy Davis Jr., who was filming “The Kid Who Loved Christmas” in my Chicago neighborhood. 

2. My uncle, Clifton Henderson, was the personal assistant to Nina Simone. They met in California, and Nina Simone loved him so much she invited him to live and work for her in the south of France.