Jeni Stephens
Jeni Stephens has more than twelve years
of service to the nonprofit sector.
Her experience includes fundraising, marketing and 
management services
to nonprofit organizations. She
has facilitated strategic plans, capital campaigns, special events, board and
staff development and cause-related marketing projects.
Prior to partnering with Gaskill
Strategies LLC, Ms. Stephens held such positions as Executive Director of The
Exceptional Foundation of West Tennessee, Deputy Director of Development for
the Memphis Museums Inc., and Director of Marketing and Development for the
Memphis Bioworks Foundation and Memphis Academy of Science and
Engineering. She also served as
the Public Information Officer for the Tennessee Department of Children
Services (DCS) and was the media relations spokesperson for the Governor of
Tennessee, DCS Commissioner, and 3,000 employees statewide.
In 1996, Ms. Stephens represented
Tennessee in the Miss America Scholarship Pageant and was awarded $25,000 in
cash scholarships. She was
co-founder and editor/contributor for the Memphis Bioworks magazine and
served as the spokesperson and fundraiser for Tennessee’s first charter
school. She is also a graduate of
Leadership Memphis, a selective community leadership development program. She was named Top 40 Under 40 by the
Memphis Business Journal, received the Phi Mu National Outstanding Alumni
Community Service Award, and selected as the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant
Volunteer of the Year in 2009.
Ms. Stephens has served on several boards
of directors which include the Association of Fundraising Professionals,
Playhouse on the Square, Court Appointed Special Advocates, and MPACT
Memphis. She holds a Bachelor’s
Degree in Communications and Theatre from Lambuth University, and a Master’s of
Education in Nonprofit Administration from Vanderbilt University.