Karen Turney leads World Food Program USA’s Philanthropy team, developing and supporting strategies and the team responsible for partnering with individual donors to maximize their impact in the fight against global hunger. Her team includes major gifts, mid-level giving, direct response (direct mail, email, SMS, telemarketing and Face-to-Face), and planned giving.
Karen brings more than 20 years of experience partnering with individuals and foundations to help realize their philanthropic goals. Recent positions include Director of Development for Rice 360⁰ Institute for Global Health, Senior Director of Development at UTHealth and Managing Director in the Southwest regional office of UNICEF USA. Karen’s first experience in fundraising was in elementary school when she and a friend were so inspired by “We are the World” that they walked the neighborhood asking for donations to support food assistance in Ethiopia.
Karen received an executive certificate in public and nonprofit management from Georgetown University, an M.A. in Latin American Studies from The George Washington University, and a B.A. in Anthropology from Sewanee-The University of the South. She lives in Houston, Texas with her rescue poodle, Yazi.