Denise Callahan

About Denise Callahan

I believe in the power of education: It changes the lives of individuals and leads to stronger communities and a more robust economy. I am passionate about access to education beyond high school for individuals facing financial and social barriers and applying the appropriate student support for success.My Why: I grew up in rural northeastern Oregon and was the first person in my family to go to college. I was lucky to have extensive scholarship support, and the moral support of my family, but college was a whole new world for me. I felt completely lost when I arrived, both geographically and socially. My Journey: I have always been a hard worker, well-organized, good with detail, and able to connect with people. As a result, my jobs in college tended toward the administrative side of things and were often in organizations experiencing change or growth. This gave me the opportunity to learn more about organizations and I gained experience in building new programs and increasing efficiency and strengthening strategy in existing places.My career path has included work in the fields of non-profit, higher education, and philanthropy where\'ve I\'ve developed skills and expertise in leading effective teams, change management, strategy, and program development and implementation.My Executive Leadership Style: I believe in hiring good people and providing them with what they need to be successful. I seek to have all employees feel good about their work and want them to care enough about their work to want to always do it better, even if it means something doesn’t work. We learn from that and try again.I engage people in our work in a collaborative way and also recognize when leadership and decision-making is required to move things forward. I identify and remove barriers for my team, use compassion and humor as leadership tools, and have high expectations for our work.Leadership Feedback:“Highly competent with passion for her work.”“Very intentional about building relationships.”“She is incredibly charming and charismatic; she’s the best public speaker.”“(Denise) is thoughtful about how to apply our work to the rest of the Foundation.”“Has done a wonderful job of adapting program during COVID.”“She’s incredibly diplomatic; I hear her say the hard things with humor.”

Experience

1. Director of Postsecondary Success

   The Ford Family Foundation

   Nov 2014 — Present

   I shifted to Director of Postsecondary Success in 2014 when the foundation moved beyond just scholarships and I am really proud of the ways our work has expanded. We have grown the team from 6 to 12, expanded the number of Scholars we award, and added strategic grant making. In addition, we’ve increased access through internal policy change and begun to use our learning to inform the field of postsecondary success - especially for high need students with barriers.I am incredibly proud that I could have a role in opening our scholarship programs to qualified undocumented students and increase awareness about the barriers to higher education facing rural students in our state and nationally. I have devised and executed strategies to address policy issues, gaining leadership endorsement for changes that improved student access and support.Areas of Expertise:• Knowledge about access, persistence and completion issues for students facing barriers to higher education, especially rural - and more recently - boys.• Management of complex organizations, situations, and people.• Crossover between program development/management and philanthropy.

Education

• Willamette University MBA

  MBA, Organizational Development

  1997 — 2000

• Willamette University

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, English and Spanish (dual major)

Skills

• Career Counseling
• Donor Relations
• Leadership
• Grant Writing
• Editing
• Student Affairs
• Non-Profits
• Annual Giving
• Higher Education Administration
• Nonprofits
• Organizational Development
• Strategic Communications
• Stewardship
• Higher Education
• Budgets
• Community Outreach
• Community Development
• Alumni Relations
• Program Management
• Public Relations
• Social Media
• Higher Education Management
• Management
• Program Development
• Board Development
• Student Development
• Event Management
• Fundraising
• Planned Giving
• Public Speaking
• Budgeting
• Grants
• Marketing
• Philanthropy
• Strategic Planning
• Volunteer Management
• Leadership Development
• Higher Education Marketing
• Staff Development
• Event Planning