Foundation Leadership

Kim Shaffer Kirkman, Ed.D., CFRE, serves as Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer of LifeTouch Health Foundation, formerly Arkansas Hospice Foundation. A Certified Fund Raising Executive, Kirkman provides executive leadership for philanthropic strategy supporting LifeTouch Health’s mission and services. She also hosts the Touching Lives Podcast, featuring conversations about healthcare, hospice and palliative care, philanthropy, leadership, and compassionate care.

Prior to joining LifeTouch Health Foundation, Kirkman spent more than a decade in higher education leadership and advancement at Taylor University and Harding University. Her work included major and planned giving, donor and board engagement, women’s philanthropy, student leadership development, and endowment building. As Executive Director of Harding University’s American Studies Institute, she led record-setting fundraising initiatives and hosted nationally and internationally recognized leaders through its Distinguished Lecture Series.

Kirkman earned her Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Harding University. She is the author of The Simple Secret Study Guide (Wipf and Stock, 2025) and has published articles on hospice and compassionate care in Arkansas Business.

Active in professional and community organizations, Kirkman is involved with AHP, AFP, NHPCO, Rotary International, and Leadership Greater Little Rock. She and her husband, Brett, have four grown children.