Koya | Diversified Search Group partnered with Easterseals National to recruit the President and CEO.
Easterseals is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit providers of services and advocacy for people with disabilities and their families. Through its national network of Affiliates, Easterseals provides essential services and on-the-ground support to more than 1.5 million people each year, from early childhood programs for the critical first five years, to autism services, medical rehabilitation and employment programs, veterans’ services, and more.
The search resulted in the appointment of Kendra E. Davenport to the role.
Davenport has more than three decades of experience working exclusively in the nonprofit arena. She has managed several national development and communications portfolios, served as president of a nonprofit serving veterans’ families, and was a philanthropy and communications consultant to several national and international nonprofit organizations.
Most recently, Davenport managed multichannel global philanthropy efforts as Chief Development Officer of Operation Smile, an international nonprofit medical organization that provides free cleft lip and cleft palate surgery. Davenport’s role included corporate, mass market, direct response and digital fundraising, major gifts and planned giving, community engagement, special events and partnerships, private sector grants, and government relations.
Working closely with C-suite industry leaders, Davenport has designed and implemented a myriad of mutually beneficial initiatives including point-of-purchase sales programs, co-branded marketing and advertising campaigns, and a host of special events. As philanthropy has evolved, she has helped numerous nongovernmental organizations diversify their philanthropic portfolios to keep pace with change and growth by utilizing technology.
Davenport possesses extensive management experience, having overseen more than 1,000 international staff across eighteen sub-Saharan countries while working for Africare, one of the largest African American founded and led nonprofits at the time.
Much of Davenport’s career has been dedicated to facilitating the provision of critical services and interventions with organizations that include the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Alliance, Goodwill Industries, and The Arc Montgomery County.
Davenport received her Bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in Communications from Chestnut Hill College. She earned a Master of Policy Leadership from Georgetown University.
We invite you to read the announcement here.