Impact

Stengels make $1 million gift to endow Alumni Association volunteer programs

The Stengel Family Endowment for Excellence in Alumni Volunteer Leadership will bolster the efforts of the Penn State Alumni Association's volunteer leaders, who connect alums across the world back to the University. "The people of the Penn State Alumni Association are why Kathleen and I are still close to Penn State," Jim said. "They kept us close over the decades to a place we love."  Credit: Stengel FamilyAll Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Alumni Association has received a $1 million gift from an alumni couple to strengthen programs that support Penn State alumni volunteer leaders across the nation.

The Stengel Family Endowment for Excellence in Alumni Volunteer Leadership — established by Jim and Kathleen Stengel of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Coronado, California, and their family — will fund innovative programs designed to help volunteer leaders become even more effective in their roles.

“With our constantly expanding network of affiliate groups — now more than 300 strong — we have a growing need to continue fostering exceptional volunteer leadership,“ said Alumni Association President Kay Salvino. “Through their incredible generosity, Jim and Kathleen Stengel are providing the ongoing strategic support we need to empower our extensive leadership network. We are truly grateful for the Stengel family’s partnership with us in service to our alumni and alma mater.”

The Stengels met as master of business administration students at Penn State — Jim graduating in 1983 and Kathleen Hackim Stengel in 1984 — then married and settled in Cincinnati.Since then, Jim has emerged as an internationally renowned thought leader, marketing executive and consultant. He culminated a 25-year multinational career at Procter & Gamble as global marketing officer from 2001 to 2008, with responsibility for an $8 billion advertising budget and nearly 7,000 people. During his tenure, Jim led the effort to leverage higher ideals in brands throughout the P&G portfolio.

In 2008, the Stengels partnered to establish The Jim Stengel Company LLC, where Jim serves as president/CEO and Kathleen uses her marketing, merchandizing and business expertise as chief financial officer. The company operates as a think tank and consultancy conducting proprietary research, generating thought leadership, and applying an ideals-driven framework to drive business growth for major U.S. and international organizations.

Having written for the Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and Forbes, Jim also published "Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World’s Greatest Companies" in 2011. Grow looked at companies that grew more than three times faster than their competitors and tracked the connection over a 10-year period between financial performance and customer engagement, loyalty, and advocacy. 

“Kathleen and I — along with our children, Claire and Trevor — are thrilled to provide a means of permanent financial support to undergird efforts that will enhance the development and effectiveness of alumni leaders,” Jim said. “What impresses us about the Alumni Association is that it is anything but complacent or satisfied with its stature. It’s an ideals-driven service organization also striving to be the most ambitious organization of its kind in the world. We trust our gift will help it get one step closer to that goal.

“Penn Staters are achievers without the attitude, with a strong sense of community,” he added. “That is Penn State pride. And the people of the Alumni Association are why Kathleen and I are still close to Penn State. They kept us close over the decades to a place we love.”

The Stengel Family endowment will generate approximately $50,000 per year into perpetuity.

The fund will be used to expand and improve programs for alumni leaders such as national and regional conferences, consortia of affiliate group leaders in major metro areas, resource guides and materials, webinars and innovative online learning opportunities, increased staff interaction with volunteer leaders, and other forms of support.

The Alumni Association charters some 300 affiliate groups currently in active operation. Fourteen new groups have been chartered since 2010, and 20 more are in various states of formation. These alumni groups include geographically based chapters across Pennsylvania, the nation and world; college and campus alumni societies and their affiliate program groups; and alumni interest groups, based on shared interests and affinities and/or shared college experiences. 

In all, more than 2,000 alumni volunteer leaders serve with these groups as officers and board members.

“Our Alumni Association affiliate group network will continue to grow, and the challenge for us is to keep up with and stay ahead of this growth in order to support our leaders effectively,” Salvino said.

“The University continues to grow in terms of students who become alumni,” she added. “Every year, Penn State graduates more than 21,000 students at all campuses and at all degree levels. Our great University is producing more than 100,000 alumni every five years, and that will result in a continuing expansion of our affiliate group network to help keep Penn Staters engaged and connected for a lifetime.”

The Penn State Alumni Association is the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world with more than 174,000 members. Established in 1870, the Alumni Association strives to connect alumni to the University and to each other, provide valuable services to members and support the University’s mission of teaching, research and service. For more information, visit alumni.psu.edu.

Having written for the Harvard Business ReviewFortune, and Forbes, Jim also published Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World’s Greatest Companies in 2011. Grow looked at companies that grew more than three times faster than their competitors and tracked the connection over a 10-year period between financial performance and customer engagement, loyalty, and advocacy.  Credit: Jennifer Whittaker / Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated December 5, 2014

Contact