Kristen Scott Kennedy

Kristen Scott Kennedy is Vice President of Strategy and Organizational Effectiveness and Chief of Staff at the Council, where she leads work related to strategy, partnerships, and organizational development and learning. She also supports the priorities of the Council’s president and CEO, facilitates the Council’s Board of Directors, and leads the implementation of the Council's strategic priority on Building Common Ground. Most recently she led the development of the Council's new strategic direction, organizational rebrand, and creation of two new Council events, Leading Locally and Building Together.

Prior to joining the Council she was a director in the office of the president at Grantmakers for Effective Organizations where she supported the priorities of the president and CEO, facilitated GEO’s Board of Directors, managed partnerships and developed programming on emerging topics in philanthropy.

Previously, Kristen worked for the U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council, a membership organization that promotes the use of cooperatives as a development paradigm. For four years she was managing director at The Bhutan Canada Foundation, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to improving education in the Kingdom of Bhutan. Kristen began her career in communications and operations at The Unusual Suspects Theater Company in Los Angeles before working in fundraising at The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health in Palo Alto, CA and Macmillan Cancer Support in London, UK.

Kristen received her master of public administration from American University’s School of Public Affairs and is an alumna of the University of Southern California and a recipient of the Nonprofit Executive Scholarship at the Richard Ivey School of Business. She currently serves on the Board of HomeBase, an organization devoted to addressing homelessness at its root causes.

You should contact Kristen about the Council's Building Common Ground work or to explore opportunities for strategic initiatives and partnerships.