Director, Legacy & Gift Planning, Children's Medical Center Foundation in Dallas

Acclaimed fundraiser, cultural studies academic, and recent winner of the Association of Healthcare Professionals "40 Under 40" award, Kelsey Picken, PhD, CFRE, CSPG has served over a decade of increasing responsibility and academic achievement in non-profit development. She currently serves as Director, Legacy & Gift Planning, at Children's Medical Center Foundation in Dallas. Prior to moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, she focused on planned giving across higher education, museums, and healthcare sectors in Los Angeles.

Concluding her doctoral studies at Claremont Graduate University, her award-winning dissertation examined the power of the multitude in both saving and shaping iconic cultural institutions through philanthropy. Expanding her commitment to philanthropic excellence beyond her full-time career, she currently serves as a board member for both the Lone Star and Dallas Councils of Charitable Gift Planners, as chair of the "Gift Planning on the Run" program, and as a Class Fund Director for her alma mater, Grinnell College.