KEN TURPEN, CFRE, CGT, FCEP
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

KEN TURPEN, CFRE, CGT, FCEP
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

Get to know Ken!

2012

Located In
Nashville, Tennessee

Partners Located In
California
Kentucky
Tennessee

Education

University of Nebraska-Kearney, M.S., Education Administration, 1991

University of Texas-Pan American, B.S., Education, 1983

Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), 1996-Present

Memberships & Associations

Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, 1994-Present

Association of Fundraising Professionals, 1994-Present

Fellow in Charitable Estate Planning (FCEP), Charitable Estate Planning Institute

Experience

Turpen & Associates, President, 2012-Present

Panas Linzy & Partners, Principal, 2012-Present

Scott & White Healthcare Foundation, President, 2011-2012

University of Texas at Brownsville, Associate Vice President for Advancement, 2009-2011

Pitt County Memorial Hospital, Foundation President, 2007-2009

Philanthropic Service for Institutions (PSI), Executive Director, 1994-2007

Secondary School, Principal, 1989-1994

Secondary School, Teacher, 1983-1989

Ken has extensive experience as a senior foundation executive of five nonprofit organizations during the past 30 years and is also a consultant to secondary and higher education, social service agencies, and healthcare philanthropy. He has served on numerous nonprofit boards as a member or chair, and has trained many nonprofit boards over the years. 

All that experience gives him unique insights into board leadership, nonprofit boards, CEO leadership, management, and community activism.  With a successful track record of fundraising success, he is also keenly aware of donor perspectives and has utilized his skills and experiences to excel at every stage of his career. Ken has expertise in all areas of fundraising including estate planning, planned giving, capital campaigns, major gifts and annual giving. He is a frequent writer and speaker on fundraising, foundation leadership, governance training, strategic planning and program development.

Ken’s professional experience includes secondary education and administration in Texas and Nebraska.  While serving as principal of Platte Valley Academy in Shelton, Nebraska in the early 1990s, he helped to start a successful alumni giving campaign with more than forty percent of alumni giving back to the school every year.  From Platte Valley, Ken accepted a position as the executive director of Philanthropic Service for Institutions (PSI), a department located at the World Headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland.  During his 12 year tenure he led the church’s philanthropy efforts for Adventist healthcare, education and nonprofits at large. 

Ken is a board member of the Milton Murray Fund for Philanthropy, a former member of Rotary International, deacon in his church, and is an active volunteer in his community. His interests include golf, reading, Mexican food and travel.