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Fundraising is the gentle art of teaching the joy of giving.


Hank Rosso


About Rendahl Consulting


An expert collaborator who's been building healthy and effective nonprofits for over a decade, Kristi Rendahl is a partner to organizations committed to making the world more humane, connected and creatively inspired. She has worked with groups at all stages of the nonprofit life cycle, with budgets ranging from $10,000 to $1 billion, specializing in the social services, arts and international sectors.


Kristi is a lifelong student of organizations with experience that crosses disciplines, cultures and continents. She brings an array of perspectives—real-world, academic, international—to the problems nonprofits face, applying insights gained from all sides of the organizational table. Whether as a project-based advisor or as an extension of your leadership team, Kristi can help expand your capacity for long- and short-term engagements.


Biography


Kristi Rendahl launched an independent consulting practice in 2008 after working with international non-governmental organizations for 11 years. Her career began with the Peace Corps in Armenia, where she provided English and music instruction to children and helped form the first children’s choir in the village. Her cultural and linguistic skills led to a position with Habitat for Humanity International, facilitating the formation of the first operational affiliate in Armenia. Over three years as Habitat’s resident representative, Kristi led efforts to form a local board of directors, served as a spokesperson, and collaborated with the board and staff on issues of best practices, goal setting, strategic planning and evaluation. Before returning to the U.S., she worked as an on-the-ground consultant with Made in Armenia Direct, a start-up that develops markets for Armenian crafts.


After five years in Armenia, Kristi served as the Major Gifts Director for Habitat for Humanity International in the six-state Midwest region, cultivating relationships with donors who had made gifts totaling more than $10,000 life-to-date, and conducting donor visits with senior Habitat leadership. She honed skills in communications and issue advocacy while at the Cafesjian Family Foundation, a $40 million family foundation based in Minneapolis, coordinating various efforts to seek recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Most recently, Kristi worked at the Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis managing a $1.4 million portfolio of institutional funders, including private and corporate foundations, as well as state, federal and United Nations agencies.


Ms. Rendahl currently serves on the board of Walker West Music Academy and is a past member of the strategic task force for the Master of Nonprofit Management Program at Hamline University, as well as a past board member of One Voice Mixed Chorus and the Armenian Cultural Organization of Minnesota. She completed a Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Management in 2007, and holds undergraduate degrees in Communication and Music. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Public Administration.


Kristi has a year-long research fellowship to conduct an implementation study of Ranked Choice Voting (a.k.a. Instant Runoff Voting) in the City of Minneapolis, and was recently selected for a Rotary Group Study Exchange to Ethiopia and Uganda in April 2010. She received the Wesley Award for Leadership and Service in 2007, the Vincent L. Hawkinson Scholarship for Peace and Justice in 2005, and a four-year piano scholarship during her undergraduate studies. Kristi speaks Armenian and Spanish, and has basic conversational skills in Russian.