Heifer Foundation Announces New President

Kim Dempsey brings decades of multifaceted leadership experience at the intersection of "money and mission"

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Jan. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Heifer Foundation's Board of Trustees is proud to announce the selection of new leadership. Beginning January 27, 2025, Kim Dempsey will serve as the Foundation's President and CEO.

With over 25 years of expertise in impact investing and community development, Dempsey has a proven track record of transforming financial assets into catalysts for meaningful change. Her leadership spans the nonprofit, philanthropic, and public sectors, where she has shaped innovative donor engagement strategies and built high-performing teams. Dempsey's deep commitment to driving sustainable impact positions her to lead Heifer Foundation into an exciting new phase of growth and purpose.

"The next chapter of Heifer Foundation's story will be driven by our mission-aligned investment strategies, and Kim is the ideal leader to guide that continued journey," said Elizabeth Bawden, Chair of Heifer Foundation's Board of Trustees. "Her passion for leveraging the broader capital markets and other tools to address global hunger, poverty, and climate concerns—combined with a commitment to growing the Foundation's existing endowment while expanding our donor network and the giving vehicles we offer—points to an exciting, sustainable future. What's more, her ability to lead a team with humility, care, and vision means that our Foundation staff will be well-poised to further excel in their own roles and enhance the partnership between the Foundation and Heifer International to achieve our shared mission."

"The throughline of my career has been a commitment to advance wealth-building strategies that create pathways for families to earn a living income—largely by using the tools of impact finance and investment," said Kim. "Having worked at the intersection of "money and mission" for the last 25-plus years—and personally drawn to Heifer's commitment to investing in women to lift entire economies—I am both thrilled and honored to steward the growth of a portfolio created to provide sustained support to an organization like Heifer International."

"In the coming years, I'm also excited to build on the Foundation's compelling accomplishments with mission-aligned investing, and eager to nurture an inclusive, transparent organizational culture that promotes equity and sustainability at every turn."

Most recently an independent consultant and Chief Operating Officer of philanthropic investment innovator Greater Share, Dempsey has previously served as Executive Vice President for Capital Markets at the Housing Partnership Network and Deputy Director of the Social Investment Practice at the Kresge Foundation.

Dempsey also spent over a decade at Capital Impact Partners, where she was variously the Senior Director of Lending, Director of Innovation and Strategy, and Senior Underwriter, among other roles. Earlier in her career, she was a research associate at the Urban Institute and a staffer at the City and County of San Francisco. She holds a master's degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and bachelor's degrees in community studies and sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

About Heifer Foundation:

Heifer Foundation's mission is to raise and oversee financial assets to support the work of Heifer Project International to end hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth. The Foundation does this, in part, by providing Heifer donors with diverse and effective ways to achieve philanthropic goals through planned giving. Through the endowment, the Foundation and its donors can evaluate their investments both in terms of financial return and social impact.

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SOURCE Heifer Foundation