Guest Information
Ken Barun
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
1 Billy Graham Parkway
Charlotte, NC 28201
Website: www.billygraham.org
Twitter: @bgea
About Ken Barun
Ken Barun joined BGEA in 2007. He currently serves as the Chief of Staff reporting to its President and CEO Franklin Graham. Previously, he held the position of Senior Vice President of Communications and Donor Ministries. Prior to joining the ministry, Ken spent more than 20 years with the McDonald’s Corporation. As Corporate Senior Vice President, he oversaw and led the areas under corporate social responsibility. He also held the position of President/CEO and board member of Ronald McDonald House Charities Worldwide. In 1982, Ken was asked by President Ronald Reagan to join the White House staff, where he served for three years as a Director of Projects and Policy to First Lady Nancy Reagan.
Ken holds a degree in sociology from the University of Houston. He married his wife Sethea in 2000. Together, they have seven children, the oldest of whom, Gabrielle, passed away in 2009. “When my daughter died, it was like someone had taken a baseball bat and hit me in the chest as hard as they could,” he says. “I thought of the others—Seth, Adam, Shante, Max, Shanel and Shelsea—and how much Sethea and I love them all, yet without one, all of our lives would be forever changed.” He was comforted by the Scripture in Job 1:21: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Ken also authored the bestseller When Saying No Isn’t Enough: How to keep the Children You Love off Drugs. Ken and Sethea live in Charlotte, North Carolina.