Stephen D. Christensen
史蒂芬·克里斯坦森
Biography: Stephen D. Christensen
stephen.christensen@cui.edu
Dean, School of Business & Executive Vice President, Concordia University Irvine, Founder, Teen Entrepreneur Academy, Kid Entrepreneur Academy & American Entrepreneur Academy
aeairvine@hotmail.com, (949) 214-3198 WeChat: aea-irvine
Stephen is a higher education veteran who plans and organizes strategic growth initiatives. He specializes in working with CEOs, business owners, entrepreneurs and leaders to start and grow new initiatives. A native of New York City, Stephen has over 30 years experience in southern California having worked at four different universities, three private businesses and five non-profit organizations. His diversified leadership experiences help organizations achieve their growth initiatives, external relations, fund raising and business development goals.
Stephen is both an intrapreneur and entrepreneur. He helped launch five enterprises: a business communications company, a private equity investment company, a roundtable program for CEOs at UC Irvine, a non-profit ministry and an entrepreneurship training academy for high school, middle school and college students. As an entrepreneur catalyst, he is passionate about helping people and organizations achieve their goals. He frequently speaks about entrepreneurship to business, community and church groups and has presented business plan writing and startup workshops including a Biz Launch Weekend Boot Camp and a seven- week business startup training program.
Since 2001, Stephen has been serving Concordia University Irvine (www.cui.edu). In 2014, he was appointed dean of the business school. He is also on the business school faculty teaching entrepreneurship in the MBA program. In 2012, he founded the Teen Entrepreneur Academy, an innovative one-week residential summer business startup program that teaches 100 high school students how to start businesses (www.cui.edu/tea). He also created the Kid Entrepreneur Academy summer program for middle school students and the American Entrepreneur Academy for international students.
From July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2008, he served as executive vice president for university advancement and senior advisor to the president at Concordia University. He was responsible for all external relations, marketing, public and media relations and fund raising for the university. He also served as president of the Concordia University Foundation, overseeing a Board of 35 members and a team of 16 individuals who raised $10 million annually. In 2007, his team successfully completed a $22 million campaign for Robert Alan Grimm Hall, home of the School of Business. In 2002, he created the University’s Faith and Business Forum (www.cui.edu/forum). Over 8,000 business leaders have participated in the annual Forum event. He also founded Concordia’s Center for Faith and Business. He left CUI for three years.
In 2008, he left Concordia and established a non-profit Faith and Work Life (FWL) (www.faithandworklife.org), a ministry committed to helping Christians understand work from God’s perspective emphasizing the Doctrine of Vocation. This doctrine teaches that all work is sacred work that honors God and serves one’s neighbor. FWL offers events and workshops. He returned to Concordia in 2011.
Prior to FWL, he served as vice president of marketing at TeeHub, LLC (Irvine, CA), a start-up video communications company. He developed the company’s marketing and sales strategies that launched the business. Prior to that, Stephen was chief advancement officer at Olive Crest Foster Homes (Santa Ana, CA), managing the external relations programs including six regional development offices in three states that raised $6 million annually.
He served as vice president for university relations at Chapman University, Orange CA from May 1995 to June 2001. He was responsible for all university-wide external relations and fund raising programs. His team included alumni relations, annual giving, church relations, capital campaigns, corporate relations, foundation relations, government relations, major gifts, parent relations, estate giving, public/community relations, and special events. Under his leadership, the Chapman team increased annual giving from $6 million to $17 million. Additionally, the team completed the largest campaign in the university’s 140-year history, raising $170 million including $35 million for a new business school building (Beckman Hall) and naming (Argyros School).
Prior to Chapman, Stephen served as executive director of university development at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) from July 1992 to April 1995. He was responsible for all school and program-based development programs. This included directing the university’s first comprehensive major and deferred gifts program. He initiated the university’s first major capital campaign, an $8 million university-wide campaign.
Prior to CSUSB, Stephen was vice president and senior consultant with the Robert B. Sharp Company Inc., August 1989 to June 1992. The Sharp Company was a $3 million full-service consulting firm that served the nonprofit sector throughout the western region of the United States. He served as strategic counsel or campaign director to numerous nonprofits, working in all areas of campaign strategic planning, marketing and implementation including feasibility studies, capital campaigns, development audits, starting up programs, board development, annual giving, major gifts, special
events, corporate relations & sponsorship organizational management. He raised $1 million for Cal State University, Fullerton, in 1991. He also directed a $4.8 million campaign to build the Irvine Barclay Theatre, surpassing the goal and raising a total of $5.5 million. Clients served by Stephen included:
LA Chamber of Commerce AMC Cancer Research Center
Newport Conservancy Fox Theater
Discovery Science Center Brea Lions Scout Center
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Boys & Girls Club of Santa Ana
Christ College Cal Western School of Law
Chapman University Francis Parker School
Laguna Canyon Foundation KPBS TV
La Monte Academie California Pools for the Handicapped
Irvine Senior Center Huntington Youth Shelter
The Salvation Army Santa Ana Zoo
Casa de Amparo Blood Bank-Riverside/San Bernardino
Prior to joining the Sharp Company, Stephen was a fund raising executive at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), 1983 to 1989. His last position was the director of major gifts. He was responsible for planning and implementing cultivation and solicitation strategies for major gifts of $50,000 and above. The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) nationally recognized his efforts in 1987 for Distinguished Achievement for a new and innovative fund raising program he started called the UCI Chief Executive Roundtable. During his six-year tenure at UCI, he held the following positions: director of corporate relations, director of special projects and associate director of annual giving.Stephen’s additional fund raising experience includes two years (1982-1983) as development director for special projects at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City where he assisted with the annual giving program and in planning the Center’s $300 million Centennial Campaign. His fund raising career began in 1977 with the New York City Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He served as a development officer working with the Scouts corporate and foundation relations program, special events and prospect research. He has taught campaign and fund raising classes at the University of California, Riverside, and California Lutheran
University in their Non-Profit Management and Fund Raising Certificate programs as well as at Cal State University, Long Beach. He also taught in the University of California, Irvine’s Certificate program. He has conducted numerous training seminars and programs on campaigns, fund raising principles and techniques. He was the southern California correspondent for Fund Raising Management magazine.
Stephen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from California State University, Fullerton. He also has a Masters of Arts degree in Theology from Concordia University Irvine with a research focus on the “Doctrine of Vocation and Theology of Work.” He studied public administration at California State University San Bernardino. He also studied in the educational leadership doctoral program at the University of Southern California (USC). Stephen and his wife of 30+ years Michelle have four daughters (two graduated from Concordia’s Business School) and seven grandchildren.
Supplemental Biographical Information – Stephen D. Christensen
PUBLISHED ARTICLES
“Overcoming the Sacred-Secular Divide: Understanding and Applying the Lutheran Doctrine of Vocation Today,” Master’s Thesis, May 2016.
“Recessionary Fund Raising Strategies,” Fund Raising Management Magazine, June 1991.
“Corporate Solicitation Strategies,” National Society of Fund Raising Executives Journal, June 1990. “Equalization Board Makes Life Easy for Entrepreneurs,” Orange County Register, Commentary, Jan. 5, 2014.
“Five Essential Leadership Skills for Business Success,” Business Connections Magazine, City of Irvine Chamber of Commerce, November/December 2014, 11.
“Why Teach Teenagers Entrepreneurship,” Business Connections Magazine, City of Irvine Chamber of Commerce, March/April 2015, 9.
TEACHING
Adjunct Faculty, Concordia University Irvine, School of Business
MBA 665, Entrepreneurship: Principles of Starting a Business, 2011 to present.
MBA 679, Integrating Faith and Work: Faith in the Workplace Movement, 2008-2010
Adjunct Faculty, Extended Education, Non-Profit Certificate Programs: 1995-2007
• University of California, Irvine
• University of California, Riverside
• California Lutheran University
• California State University, Long Beach
• California State University, Channel Island
Concordia University Irvine, School of Business, MBA Program: Entrepreneurial Track “Program Champion,” 2013
University of Iowa-Certified Youth Entrepreneurship Instructor
SPEAKING PRESENTATIONS and WORKSHOPS
Association of Fund Raising Executives, “Fund Raising Lessons from Steve Jobs”
Association of Fund Raising Executives, “Strategies to Jump Start a Stalled Campaign”
Barnabus Group, “Launching a Non-Profit Organization-Faith and Work Life Ministry”
Bethel Korean Church, “Honoring God in Your Secular Work”
California Ministries Association, “Starting a Work Life Ministry at Your Church”
California Work Force Association, Youth Conference, “Starting a Teen Entrepreneur Program” Calvary Church, Fusion Leaders, “High Performance Ethics”
Chinese Entrepreneur Society, Shenzhen, China, March 2016
Chino Hills Community Church, “Working with Purpose, Applying the Doctrine of Vocation Today” 4-weekseries, 2011
Christian Chamber of Commerce, Portland Marketplace Summit Conference, “Starting a Work Life Ministry at Your Company”
Christian Executive Officers (CEO), “Eight Principles for Business Success,” 2013
CNN Interview, “The Faith at Work Movement in Corporate America”
Concordia International School, Shanghai, China, “Five Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs” 2015
Costa Mesa High School Business Academy, “Principles of Entrepreneurship,” 2015
Crossings Church, Chino Hills, Business Ministry, “Eight Principles for Business Success”
Crossroads Church, Corona, Vocation, Business and Career Ministry, “Honoring God in Your Secular Work”
Crown Ministries, “Integrating Faith and Secular Work”
Economic Forecast Conference, Breakfast keynote, City of Huntington Beach, “Economic Outlook for Growing Your Business,” April 2014
El Cajon Community Church, “Eight Biblical Principles for Business Success” Exchange Club, Irvine, “Youth Entrepreneurship,” 2013
Faith and Work Life Conference, “Biblical Entrepreneurship”
Grace Lutheran Church, “Start-Up Business Boot Camp” Weekend Business Plan Writing Workshop Irvine Presbyterian Church, “Serving God by Putting Your Faith to Work”
Irvine Teen Summit, “How to Launch Your Own Business,” 2014
SPEAKING PRESENTATIONS and WORKSHOPS-(Continued)
Inner Mongolia University, China, “Five Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs,” 2015
JSerra Catholic High School Business Magnet Program, “Principles of Entrepreneurship,” 2015
KKLA 99.5 FM, Sue Fries weekly radio show, two segments: “Integrating Faith and Secular Work” and “Teen Entrepreneurship”
Kingdom Keys Conference, Los Angeles, “Starting a Work Life Ministry at Your Company”
Lvliang Senior School, Shanxi, China, “Five Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs,” 2015
Leadership Tomorrow, Orange County, CA, “Starting a Teen Entrepreneur Program,” 2014
Olive Branch Community Church, “Integrating Faith at Work”
Olive Crest Foster Homes, “Vision Casting-Nehemiah’s Approach”
Orange Lutheran High School, “Introduction to Entrepreneurship,” Faith & Entrepreneurial Business Academy 2015
Peking University High School, Beijing, China “Five Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs,” 2015
South Shores Church, Business and Leadership Network, “Serving God in Your Secular Workplace”
Shenzhen Academy of International Education, China, “Five Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs,” 2015
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, “Secular Work is Sacred Work”
St. Simons and Jude’s Catholic Church, Career Ministry, “Eliminating Worry from Your Job Search” Tierrasanta
Lutheran Church, “Three P’s of Leadership: Purpose, Passion and Priorities”
Virdom International Academy, Shenzhen, China, “Five Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs,” 2015
Non-profit Management and Fund Raising Lecturer. Topics: Annual Giving, Major Gifts, Capital Campaigns, Board Development, Special Events
• NSFRE: Inland Empire, Orange County and Portland Chapters
• American Red Cross
• Habitat for Humanity International
• American Lung Association
• Olive Crest Foster Homes and Services for Abused Children
PROFESSIONAL and COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
President, Inland Communities Chapter, National Society of Fund Raising Executives (NSFRE) 1993 & 1994 President, Orange County Chapter, NSFRE 1986 & 1987
National Board of Directors, NSFRE 1986-89, 1993 Board of Directors
• Friends of UCI Library: 1987-89
• San Bernardino Community Hospital: 1994-95
• Eastside Christian School: 2001
Board of Trustees, Loma Linda Ronald McDonald House 1994-95
Business Plan Judge, DECA, 2013, 2014
Founder, Orange County Coalition of Work Place Ministries 2008 to present
Founder/President, Faith and Work Life Ministries 2007-present
Founder, Teen Entrepreneur Academy (TEA) 2011 www.cui.edu/tea
Founder, Kid Entrepreneur Academy (KEA) 2014 www.cui.edu/kea
Founder, American Entrepreneur Academy (AEA) 2015 www.americanentrepreneuracademy.com
Member, Review Committee, Theology of Work Project, Biola University 2011
Judge, Regional Business Plan Competition, Biblical Apprentice, Portland 2010
Judge, National Business Plan Competition, DECA, Anaheim, 2013 (16,000 high schoolers)
Advisory Board, Century High School E-Business Academy, Santa Ana
Advisor, Entrepreneurship and Business Academy, NOVA Early High School College, Santa Ana
CERTIFICATIONS and CONTINUING EDUCATION
Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) 1989
Advanced Certified Fund Raising Executive (ACFRE) 1995
Certified Trainer, Biblical Entrepreneurship, Nehemiah Ministries International 2011
Certified Trainer, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Teenage Entrepreneurship 2012
The Master’s Program, 2011
MEMBERSHIPS
American-Chinese CEO Society
Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP)
Barnabas Group (Christian CEOs and Entrepreneurs)
Christian Business Faculty Association (CBFA) Christian Business Men’s Committee (CBMC)
Christian Executive Officers (CEO)
Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Riverside, CA
Irvine Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Economic Vitality Committee National Business Incubation Association (NBIA)
Orange County Business Council (OCBC), Workforce Development Committee
HONORS AND AWARDS
Distinguished Achievement in Fund Raising: CASE 1987
Eagle Scout
Entrepreneur of the Year Nominee, Orange County Business Journal 2012, 2013, 2014
Outstanding Young Men of America 1982, 1985
Recipient – Dr. Harry Brittenstool Scholarship 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
The Winner’s Circle – Fund Raising Day in Los Angeles 1988
Respectfully submitted:
Stephen Christensen
