Dena Kimball is Executive Director of the Kendeda Fund. She has dedicated her career to driving scalable, transformational change through social activism – with more than 25 years of experience accumulated while serving in nearly every role in the non-profit world. Dena’s early career includes executive roles at several high-impact organizations. Her ability to think creatively, rally people together, and build strong teams was instrumental in transforming GirlVentures into a financially sustainable entity. She drove record levels of donor engagement at Teach For America, and supported Teach For All teams in China, India, and MENA building strategic frameworks for long-term success.
In 2012, Dena returned to her hometown of Atlanta to take on a new challenge at the Kendeda Fund. Her task was to architect a 10-year strategy for a $1B spend-out while positioning grantees for a strong future. Not only is Dena on-pace for achieving this goal, but her leadership also resulted in new giving portfolios, lean operational costs, and a total paradigm shift that transformed Kendeda from silent partner to a strong public voice advocating on behalf of grantees.
Dena currently sits on the board of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and The Temple. She was the founding board chair of RedefinED, an educational equity non-profit organization in Atlanta. She has also served on several other nonprofit boards including Fugees, the American Jewish World Service, and Global Fund for Children.
Dena holds a MA in Public Policy from Harvard and a BA in Political Science from Emory. She is a married to Josh and has two school-aged daughters. She loves to cook, dance, puzzle, go to the theater and spend time in nature!
How do you unwind or recharge your batteries?
I love to sit on our front porch swing at dusk with my two daughters, watching them enjoy each other and our garden.
