Kristin Roth-Schrefer

As communications director, Kristin Roth-Schrefer manages all aspects of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s strategic communications, with the overarching goal of increasing the social impact of the foundation and its grantees. Roth-Schrefer is responsible for oversight of the foundation's websites, public relations, social media, multimedia and video, branding, creative design and other external communications, as well as a small portfolio of grants funding non-profit media projects that advance the foundation's mission. She also supports and advises the communications work of a museum and programmatic center that run under the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation's umbrella: Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design in Honolulu and Duke Farms in Hillsborough, N.J.  

Prior to joining the foundation in 2011, Roth-Schrefer was a vice president at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, where she developed content and communications related to firm-sponsored philanthropy and employee volunteerism, and a communications manager at American Express, where she helped the American Express Foundation communicate its then-new charitable giving strategy and the launch of its Partners in Preservation initiative. She also spent several years as a journalist and editor for a variety of media and publishing companies, such as Billboard, McGraw-Hill, MTV News, Newsweek, Popular Mechanics, Rolling Stone, Scholastic, Shape, Spin, USA Today, VH1 and Vibe, among others.

Roth-Schrefer earned a Bachelor of Science in journalism from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and has been a recipient of the American Express Corporate Affairs & Communications Award for Excellence, the Hearst Tower Award for Best Reporting and the Award of Excellence from the North American Travel Journalists Association. 

She currently serves on the Communications Advisory Group of the Presidents' Council for Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy, and is a member of the Communications Network and Media Impact Funders. She has also mentored early-career professionals in philanthropy through Philanthropy New York's Young Leaders Breakfast Club program and served on the Communications Advisory Group at Philanthropy New York for six years.

For all press requests, please email kschrefer@ddcf.org. For all other inquiries, please email comms@ddcf.org.