Mission

The mission of the Kerry & Linda Killinger Foundation is to help our communities thrive by promoting public policy reform, advancing social and racial justice, building community, and providing access to the arts.

The Kerry & Linda Killinger Foundation was started in 2002, and continues to support great organizations today that fulfill its mission in the communities where Kerry and Linda live and work.

Thriving Communities

Thriving communities happen when governments are fiscally responsible, people speak with civility to and about one another, and all people have the opportunity to better themselves in life. The following are some of the organizations the Killinger Foundation has supported toward those goals.

Click on the logos below to see how the Killinger Foundation has helped communities thrive where Kerry and Linda live and work.

Town Hall Writers Festival

Cascade Public Media

Cascade Public Media

Black Girls Code

Seattle City Club

Rancho Mirage Writers Festival

Rancho Mirage Writers Festival

Eisenhower Health

University of Washington

The University of Washington

Des Moines Water Works Park

Iowa State University

Iowa State University

Bighorn

Bighorn

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

Strategic Alliance to Fight Exploitation (SAFE)

Palm Springs Art Museum

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Seattle Art Museum

Seattle Art Museum

United Way

United Way

Shriners Hospitals for Children logo

Shriners Hospitals

ISU Greenlee Summit

Music

Health and Human Services

Town Hall Writers Festival

Kerry & Linda are delighted to be the Founding Sponsors of the 2022 Town Hall Writers Festival in Seattle. The event brought in prominent authors from across the country as well as wonderful local Pacific Northwest authors whose writings highlight the wonderful place the Killingers have called home for decades.

Cascade Public Media

The Killinger Foundation has been the Founding Sponsor of the Crosscut Festival since it’s inception in 2018, which brings together national speakers, community leaders and students to discuss the important topics of the day. The Foundation sponsors the Crosscut Festival because it is an excellent forum to enhance civil discourse by convening leaders to openly discuss the challenging issues facing our communities.

Linda also served on Cascade Public Media’s board of directors from 2008-2019, supporting great programming at PBS affiliate
KCTS 9 and leading-edge news at Crosscut.

Black Girls Code

Black Girls Code is on a mission to increase the number of women of color in the digital space by empowering girls of color ages 7-17 to become innovators in STEM fields, leaders in their communities, and builders of their own futures through exposure to computer science and technology. Linda worked on a program like this decades ago through the YWCA and is delighted to continue supporting girls of color as they pursue careers in tech and thrive in life!

Seattle City Club

Seattle CityClub is a nonpartisan organization improving the civic health of the Puget Sound region by providing programs that bridge politics, sectors and generations to inform and engage residents and community leaders. On a semi-monthly basis, CityClub puts on a Civic Cocktail program which offers a lively look at important issues facing the Puget Sound region and connects community leaders with residents in engaging conversation. The program’s conversational format features elected officials, community leaders, journalists, political pundits and news-makers.

Kerry and Linda know the importance of having diverse voices present in community forums like the Civic Cocktail, so the Foundation has provided scholarshipped tickets since 2018 for youth, people of color, and immigrants & refugees to attend these important forums for connecting with community leaders and engaging in pressing regional issues.

Rancho Mirage Writers Festival

Kerry & Linda have enjoyed supporting this world class gathering of writers, thinkers, and people contributing to intellectual vitality. Each year, the Festival welcomes 50 authors to talk about their books, their source of ideas, and the mechanics of writing for publication. Over 1,000 “readers” join in the fun.

Eisenhower Health

For over ten years, Kerry & Linda have been active in raising money for breast cancer treatment and providing financial support for women with breast cancer. The Killingers are honored to partner with Eisenhower Health to further their important work to fight breast cancer.

The University of Washington

Linda served on the Foundation Board of Governors during the $1 billion fund drive in the mid-2000’s, and Kerry and Linda co-chaired a successful capital campaign for the College of Education. The Killinger Foundation also funded an endowed Chair in Diversity Studies which has been held by internationally recognized scholar Dr. James Banks.

Des Moines Water Works Park

Kerry and Linda love the amphitheater at Water Works Park and the enrichment it brings to the Des Moines community.  For four generations, members of the Killinger family have played music, taught music, and brought music to the greater Des Moines region.

It was a fitting tribute to honor the Killinger family’s music legacy by naming the Killinger Stage at the amphitheater, and hosting a kick-off concert and picnic on Labor Day 2019 that featured the Killinger Big Band!

Iowa State University

Linda and Kerry enjoy supporting Linda’s alma matter by serving on the board of governors of the Iowa State Foundation. Linda also serves on the Dean’s Council of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Bighorn

Kerry and Linda live part of the year in the Bighorn Community in Southern California. They enjoy supporting the activities of fellow Bighorn members to raise money for breast cancer, scholarships and health and human services in the local community. Over the past ten years, the Bighorn Community has collectively raised over $10 million for these important community needs.

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

Kerry & Linda feel strongly about wise fiscal policy and responsible budgeting, and are delighted to support the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s work in educating elected officials and the general public about wise budget practices and the ramifications of federal fiscal policy actions.

Strategic Alliance to Fight Exploitation (SAFE)

The Killingers believe no one deserves to be exploited, and they love seeing all parts of the community come together to fight sex trafficking in Washington state. Investing in SAFE allows them to address the most critical needs in the anti-trafficking movement across Washington, and help more people get out of the horrific life of sexual exploitation.

Palm Springs Art Museum

The Killingers are delighted to be supporting the Palm Springs Art Museum in one of their “home-towns”. The museum draws art and architecture from all over the world and is a wonderful gathering place for the greater desert community.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

In June 2002, Kerry was awarded the E. Donnall Thomas medal of achievement by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. It was given to Kerry for: “vision, leadership, dedication and to commemorate a lifetime of achievement with far reaching benefits to humanity.”

Seattle Art Museum

Linda served on the Board of the Seattle Art Museum and was on the Major Gifts Committee that raised over $100 million for the construction of the downtown museum, the remodel of the Asian Art Museum, and the creation of the Olympic Sculpture Park. Kerry and Linda also funded the Kerry & Linda Killinger gallery in the downtown Seattle museum because they desire to make great art available for all to enjoy.

United Way

Kerry & Linda are members of United Way’s Million Dollar Roundtable, and have financially supported and been involved in campaigns to raise funds for United Way in all of the communities where they live and work.

Shriners Hospitals

The Killinger Foundation funded an artificial limb program for disabled children and an operating room at one of the Shriners Hospitals in honor of Linda’s father, Richard, who was a potentate and on the Board of Directors of one of the Shriners Hospitals.

ISU Greenlee Summit

The Killinger Foundation was the founding sponsor of an exciting forum for civil discourse in the fall of 2019 at the Iowa State University Greenlee School of Journalism. The Civility Symposium brought local and nationally recognized experts together to openly discuss some of the most challenging topics of the day.

It was an honor to have Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller
and former Presidential Press Secretary Mike McCurry
contribute to the 2019 Civility Symposium on a panel moderated by Kevin Cooney.

Music

Kerry (left) playing with Doc Severinsen from the Tonight Show (right)

Kerry and Linda love making music performances available to as many people as possible, and over the years have sponsored many concerts in Iowa and Washington state, including the annual Veterans Day concert of the Iowa Veterans Military band which was founded and directed by Kerry’s father Karl.

Kerry’s mom and dad

Health and Human Services

The Killinger Foundation has supported many valiant organizations who are providing health and human services across the Northwest, Midwest and Southern California.

In recent years, those organizations have included:
+ St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church – providing meals to those who are hungry in the Greater Seattle area
+ Northwest Family Life – domestic violence treatment and counseling
+ YWCA of Seattle – eviction prevention assistance
+ LifeWire – services for domestic violence victims

About

Kerry and Linda have a long history of working for community building, K-12 and higher education, affordable housing, and social and racial justice.

Kerry Killinger was the chairman, president and CEO of Washington Mutual Bank, the sixth largest depository bank in the country prior to the financial crisis of 2008.  He graduated with a BBA with honors and an MBA from the University of Iowa.  He is a chartered financial analyst (CFA) and a fellow in the Life Management Institute.  He was chair of the National Education summit of Achieve and American Banker’s Banker of the year, received President George H.W. Bush’s Points of Light Award for his philanthropy, was vice chair and chair-elect of the Financial Services Roundtable, vice chair and chair-elect of the Federal Reserve’s Thrift Industry Advisory Council, and was vice chair of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle.  He was elected to the American Society of Corporate Executives.  He is currently the CEO of Crescent Capital.

 

Linda Killinger was vice chair of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines and chair of its audit/finance committee.  She was also a consulting partner in an international accounting firm specializing in strategic planning and merger/acquisitions for financial institutions.  She was the publisher and editor of Overseas Business magazine.  Prior to that she was appointed by Governor Robert D. Ray as the director of administration for the Iowa Department of Human Services, which included the prison system, mental health hospitals, AFDC and other human service programs.  She was appointed by Governor Tom Vilsack to chair his Committee for a Comprehensive Housing Strategy for Iowa.  She has a bachelor of science degree from Iowa State University, an MBA from Drake University, and completed additional graduate work at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She currently is the CEO of Olympic Consulting.