Ken Van Winkle: A Commitment to Community

For Womble Bond Dickinson Vice Chair Ken Van Winkle, community service isn’t an asterisk on his resume, an ancillary activity when he’s not at his day job.  

Instead, Ken has integrated service with his real estate equity and debt financing practice and his work as a law firm leader. He forged a career path that other attorneys can emulate as they seek to merge professional demands with a desire to improve their communities. 

Ken recently completed a two-year term as Chairman of Greater Phoenix Leadership, an organization of more than 120 CEOs working together to improve economic vitality and quality of life in the Phoenix area. The organization’s priorities include infrastructure (transportation, energy, etc.), arts and culture, education, and public policy. The group includes leaders from across a wide range of sectors, each bringing different perspectives and priorities, but all focused on the common good. 

“All those areas lead towards the one goal, which is a better place for the people of Arizona, not only for those that live here, but to attract more people here to help grow our community,” he said.  

Being devoted to community service doesn’t mean saying yes to every opportunity that comes along. Instead, effective leaders like Ken carefully pick the roles that best match their skillsets and where they can truly have an impact on the issues most important to them.  

When a person finds a service project they are passionate about, they will find the time to do it, Ken said. The secret to balancing a challenging professional career with the demands of community leadership is finding something you truly care about, he said. 

Once he makes a commitment to a community opportunity project, Ken is dedicated to making it work. “I'm the type of person that rolls up my sleeves and gets the things done that he says he's going to do and that when I commit to doing something, I show up,” he said. 

Likewise, promoting that same level of buy-in is key to community service leadership. Ken said an approach he’s found effective is to keep the focus on the ultimate goal, but to allow people to focus their time and talents on the areas they feel most passionate about. For example, if one person loves the arts, let them concentrate on service in that area. If transportation is another person’s area of interest, they should be able to serve in that capacity.  

With that “Individual talents working toward one purpose” approach in mind, Greater Phoenix Leadership established an organization known as Rio Reimagined during Ken’s tenure as Chairman.  

The Salt River runs through seven jurisdictions in Arizona Salt River Pima-Maricopa and Gila River Indian Communities. Organizers hope to revitalize a 70-mile stretch of riverbed and turn it into an area for cultural, recreational, community, retail, and business activities, while restoring the region’s ecosystem and improving water quality.  

It’s a massive project, but one that will have huge benefits to the greater Phoenix area and people who live there.  

“What makes us proud of it is we’re bringing together all these different stakeholders and all these different communities to benefit everyone,” Ken said. 

He noted that community service leadership, especially with a group like GPL, is different from being a CEO or team leader in a corporate setting. He likened it more to being a leader in a law firm. Instead of providing top-down leadership, the role is more about providing guidance and advice, inspiring, creating trust, using influence, building consensus, listening to different perspectives, and finding ways that team members can work together towards an agreed upon common goal(s).  

Ken said he considers his time leading Greater Phoenix Leadership to be one of his greatest professional accomplishments. 

“The biggest thing of being asked to take on this role was the recognition by the community of my years of service and my accomplishments in that regard,” Ken said. “Being designated as the chair by the CEOs from the largest companies and organizations, probably both in the greater Phoenix area and Arizona, was really meaningful to me.” 

After finishing his tenure as Chairman of Greater Phoenix Leadership, Ken has taken on a new role on the Visit Phoenix Board of Directors. This board oversees tourism and conventions, a major economic driver for the greater Phoenix community. Again, Ken said he’s excited about this new challenge because these are issues he is passionate about. 

“I think we've got a great story to tell,” he said. “That's why I agreed to join the Visit Phoenix Board—not only to support the people here today but also help our region be a better community for the people that are going to be here tomorrow.” 

At the same time, he continues his roles on the Banner Health Foundation and Downtown Phoenix Inc. Boards and as a member of the ALAS managing partner advisory committee.