The Faculty of Law would like to congratulate its alumnus Kevin Jenkins ('80 LL.B.) on being chosen as the recipient of the University of Alberta's 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award. This is the Alumni Association's most prestigious award, recognizing living graduates whose outstanding achievements have earned them national or international prominence.
As the head of one of the world's largest humanitarian organizations, Kevin Jenkins is making a positive impact on the lives of millions of children. In 2009, Kevin Jenkins left a comfortable career in private business to devote his energy and leadership to community service as president and CEO of the not-for-profit organization World Vision International.
Born in Western Canada to Scottish immigrant parents, his management skills began to show when, at 13 years of age, he had a paper route and was subsequently promoted to supervisor. His reflective and open personal style was partially forged milking cows on a kibbutz in Israel during his late teens. Jenkins completed his education and earned a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta and later added a Masters in Business Administration at Harvard Business School. After three years working in corporate law, Jenkins became interested in business and went on to a career that included senior management positions with Canadian Airlines International, Westaim Corp. and TriWest Capital Partners. At Canadian Airlines, he successfully led the company's reorganization, one of the largest - if not the largest - consensual financial restructurings in Canadian history.
Kevin Jenkins became the seventh President and Chief Executive Officer of World Vision International in 2009, after over 10 years as a child sponsor, volunteer, fund-raiser and ultimately a Board member with the World Vision office in his native Canada. His goal when he took on the role was to achieve meaningful, lasting change for the world's most-vulnerable children, working among colleagues whose efforts are also motivated by faith, and this remains his driving force to this day. In his position with World Vision, Jenkins leads one of the largest humanitarian NGOs in the world. Dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice, World Vision operates in 96 countries and has an annual operating budget of nearly $3 billion. Jenkins represents World Vision on the international stage, at the United Nations, at the World Bank and with government leaders around the world. His success with World Vision follows a long history of community service motivated by his Christian faith and enabled by the continued support of his family.
Kevin Jenkins ('80 LL.B) will receive the University of Alberta's Distinguished Alumni Award on the evening of Thursday, September 18, at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton. He will be attending the ceremony with his wife, Helen, who is also a University of Alberta graduate ('79 B.A.).
The Alumni Awards are a free, public event. Find out more on the Alumni Association website