Ken White

Summary

Dynamic, collaborative leader, committed to shared values, and evoking the best from all. Broad experience, deep knowledge, and proven skills in: leadership, management, communication, finance, development, growth and change, democracy, education, theory of change, and turnarounds. Through serving in a variety of roles and organizations, Ken has worked with a diverse set of people, places, and resource bases. A graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School, he blends a wide-ranging understanding of theories, practices, and people with firsthand experience on the ground and in boardrooms. Ken has been fortunate to work with people who address injustices, bridge differences, build communities, and develop leadership, with an emphasis on the rising generation. Ken has been doubly fortunate to continually and humbly learn from mentors, colleagues, and teachers about how to develop his own support for authentic belonging. In all his work, Ken emphasizes: • shared experience and commitment • hard questions, rather than easy answers • compelling, measurable results. Most recently, Ken has served as Interim leader for several organizations, helping clarity goals and needs, and setting up and coming leaders for success. Ken helps orient all the stakeholders to (re)align their efforts with mission, values, and opportunities. Prior to that, Ken was CEO of the Junior State of America Foundation, an 85-year-old, $6 million nonprofit that supports teen civic leadership. He led JSAF to: develop a theory of change, overhaul governance, develop new programs and impact measures, realign strategy and organization, receive the largest donation ever, build alliances, and enhance stakeholder engagement—while dramatically improving financial health. Ken served as Associate Director at Post Carbon Institute, a leading-edge think tank on energy, environment, economy, and equity. Previously, Ken was the Coordinating Director of the Chaordic Commons, Inc., a group created by Dee Hock, the founding director of VISA. Ken served as Executive Director of Common Cause Massachusetts, a citizen-led group working for representative government. He co-led a broad coalition that passed a Clean Elections Law via ballot initiative, and then mounted an equally effective legislative and legal strategy to uphold and implement that law. Ken was Director of Communications for the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and the Coalition of Essential Schools, Oxfam America, and the Institute for Defense & Disarmament Studies. Ken began as a journalist: reporting, writing, and serving as Editor.