Off the Record with Jenny Xia Spradling (HBS Class of 2012)

FreeWill started with a simple question: What if making a will could change the world? Today, it’s the largest provider of estate planning in the U.S., empowering individuals to create free, legally valid wills while making it effortless to leave gifts to charity. Since its founding, the platform has unlocked over $13 billion in charitable commitments for thousands of nonprofits, redefining how philanthropy meets technology.

Jenny has charted a path that few have—blending Wall Street rigor, startup agility, and social impact at scale. Before founding FreeWill, she worked at Bain Capital and McKinsey, and co-founded Paribus, a fintech company later acquired by Capital One. She has been named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (Social Impact) and Town & Country’s Top 50 Philanthropists, and is widely recognized as a thought leader on purposeful entrepreneurship.

She graduated from Harvard in Applied Math summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa Junior 24, and later earned her MBA at Stanford GSB, where she met her husband. Today she’s scaling a $100M+ impact business while raising two toddler sons.

This session is designed for alumni interested in mission-driven entrepreneurship, SaaS, philanthropy, and career pivots:

What we’ll cover

• How helping nonprofits became a $100M+ business: the origin story of FreeWill, early experiments, and the inflection points that drove growth.

• Building tech for mission-driven customers: what it’s really like to sell and scale software with nonprofits, boards, and development teams as your primary stakeholders.

• Balancing impact, growth, and investors: metrics that matter, trade-offs she’s had to make, and how she thinks about mission vs. margin.

• From Bain/McKinsey to founder: what transferred cleanly from consulting and investing—and what she had to unlearn.

• Leadership, resilience, and family: candid reflections on running a high-growth company while building a life outside of work.

We’ll begin with a moderated, off-the-record interview, followed by audience Q&A so you can ask directly about fundraising, product, nonprofit partnerships, or your own career decisions.

Who’s Invited:

• HBS alumni (all programs)

• Ivy++ (Stanford, Wharton, Booth, Columbia, MIT, etc.)

• Harvard undergrad/grad alumni

• Your guests

Event Details

Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Time: 6:00pm – 8:30pm

Place: Columbia Center 701 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104, 40th Floor

Price: $30

Finding the 40th Floor: on the ground floor (aka 5th Ave street level), look for the HBS club sign and representative who will usher you to the 40th Floor Sky Lobby where the event will take place

Parking: the easiest most accessible parking is in the Columbia Center's parking garage, but the parking is relatively expensive (e.g. ~$20).  If you're looking to save some money and don't mind a <5min walk, past attendees have used the following locations

• Diamond Parking immediately across the street (https://maps.app.goo.gl/TTy315Gy5NCu9Dcr6) 

• Butler Garage two blocks away as some of the cheapest parking in the area (https://maps.app.goo.gl/wx7wyaveTX8VXWuz5)

• SeaPark Garage adjacent to Columbia Tower, Seattle Court parking where there's typically availablity after working hours (https://maps.app.goo.gl/LESDFFw86qWFffwQ9) 

Event Contacts

‬Kyle Buffenmyer - kylebuffenmyer@gmail.com - ‪+1.717.201.0064