Karen Kennedy, CFRE
Deputy Director
Email: karen.kennedy@dhha.org
Phone: 303-602-2972

Karen Kennedy joined the Denver Health Foundation as Deputy Director in September 2008.  Her principal responsibilities include identification, cultivation and solicitation of major gifts for capital projects, programs, and endowments; management of non-governmental grants; planned giving; and, donor stewardship.  She is an experienced professional with sixteen years in the nonprofit sector, including Mile High United Way as Vice President of Donor Relations; Executive Vice President for the Denver Public Schools Foundation; and Regional Director for the American Ireland Fund.  Previously, she co-founded a boutique management consulting firm providing strategic planning, organizational assessment and retreat facilitation services to professional service firms in the US and Canada.

Ms. Kennedy holds a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Colorado at Denver and a bachelor of arts in Anthropology from the State University of New York at Potsdam.  She serves on numerous boards in the community including: Association of Fundraising Professionals – Colorado Chapter, Corporate Alliance for Better Air, Good Shepherd Foundation, and Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce – Public Affairs Council.  She is a member of Association for Healthcare Professionals, Association of Fundraising Professionals and Colorado Planned Giving Roundtable, and is a graduate of Denver Community Leadership Forum and 50 for Colorado. 

Karen received her designation as a Certified Fundraising Executive in April, 2013.