Denise Rennekamp

Professional Profile

Denise Rennekamp is the Assistant Director of the Nutrition Education Programs at the University of Kentucky. Denise is passionate about serving the needs of limited resource and marginalized audiences. A native of Eastern Kentucky, she has over 24 years of Extension experience working at both the county and state level.  She began her Extension career as a County Extension Agent for 4-H/Youth Development in Fayette County. Later she served as the County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences in Jessamine County.  Denise also served as the State Coordinator for the University of Kentucky Extension Service's Health Education through Extension Leadership (HEEL) initiative. Her work with the HEEL initiative allowed her to gain experience in building collaborative relationships, assessing local, regional, and statewide needs and developing curricula and resources that met the unique needs of diverse clientele.

Denise has a tremendous amount of grant management and foundation experience which has been instrumental in leveraging external funding.  In 2005 Denise’s family moved to Oregon, where she provided statewide leadership to the Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative (OPEC). OPEC is a partnership between four of Oregon’s largest foundations and Oregon State University. The initiative provides community access to best practice parenting education programs. During her time with OPEC, Denise had the opportunity to manage a complex, collaborative system and support OPEC grantees through evaluation, technical assistance, and professional development.