Denise Parker, Class of ‘77, joined the Center for Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Bush School of Government and Public Service in October 2017. Prior to joining the Center, Denise worked for an international nongovernment organization, IMA World Health, from 2008 to 2017, where she gained extensive nonprofit experience. She was a senior finance officer, working, mentoring, and building the institutional capacity of in-country finance staff in South Sudan, Tanzania, and Kenya. She managed and implemented financial processes and procedures for multi-year public health projects with diverse contract structures. Other duties included monitoring and managing foreign currency and cash management processes to assure the program activities could be funded and implemented and all activities complied with contractual requirements and accounting principles. She is proud of her work to improve the lives of people in low-income and middle-income countries, particularly the most vulnerable in the failing state of South Sudan.
Volunteering is also part of her schedule. She currently is on the Development Council for the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and the Board for the Texas A&M University Women’s Club as scholarship chair. She delivers Meals on Wheels and serves as secretary for the Friends of the Bryan College Station Libraries Board.
Denise received a bachelor of science degree from Texas A&M University in 1977 and a master of business administration from Frostburg State College, Frostburg, Maryland, in 1985. Denise and her husband and three boys lived most of their lives in the Washington, DC, area. Her husband served in active duty military service for twenty-six years and then the federal government for another ten years. She is an Aggie at heart, willing to lead by example in her position at the Center and true to the Texas A&M University values of service to others.
