Speaker
Ken Fisher
Co-Managing Partner
at
Fisher Brothers
Kenneth “Ken” Fisher is a business leader and philanthropist with a passion for serving those who have served our country. As co-managing partner of Fisher Brothers, Ken heads the third-generation leadership team of one of the country’s most successful family-owned real estate development and management companies, with a portfolio of more than 9 million square feet of commercial, residential and retail space in New York and Washington, D.C. and a market valuation of more than $8.5 billion.
Ken brings close to 40 years of experience in the real estate industry in his guidance and oversite of the company’s daily operations, management, marketing, portfolio construction and leasing of the company’s portfolio including 299 Park Avenue, 1345 Avenue of the Americas, Park Avenue Plaza and 605 Third Avenue. Under his direction, the company is implementing far-reaching modernizations to its infrastructure and technology.
Ken has served as a member of the Real Estate Board of New York’s Board of Governors Executive Committee, the Jackie Robinson Foundation. He has served on the board of directors of two publicly traded companies, the Realogy Corporation, the Real Estate Investment Trust, the Strategic Hotels & Resorts and the Washington, D.C.-based Real Estate Round Table. He is an executive committee member of the City Investment Fund, a $770 million initiative established in 1996 to stimulate communities throughout New York City’s five boroughs through real estate investment. In addition to these appointments, Ken received the Real Estate Board of New York’s Harry B. Helmsley Distinguished New Yorker Award.
Ken is a tireless advocate for those who have made tremendous sacrifices to our country including military service members, veterans and their families and is honored to serve as the chairman and CEO of Fisher House Foundation. In this role, he carries on the legacy of his Great Uncle, Zachary Fisher, and oversees a network of 85 Fisher Houses throughout the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. Fisher Houses are a home away from home for the families of service members and veterans who are being treated for an illness or injury far from home. Over the years, the Foundation has provided more than 8 million nights of lodging for military families and on any given night, more than 1,000 families are sleeping at a Fisher House.
Fisher House is the pre-eminent public/private partnership serving military families, working with both the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Since its inception, Fisher House Foundation has helped more than 335,000 families, saving them an estimated $407 million in out-of-pocket travel and lodging costs. The nonprofit has also awarded more than $11 million in scholarships. In 2011, the Foundation partnered with the Department of Defense to establish Hero Miles and Hotels for Heroes, which help provide air travel and hotel lodging for families of service members to stay close by when a Fisher House is not available.
Under Ken’s leadership, the Foundation has consistently been recognized for its success and high standards of accountability. The Foundation is one of few to hold an A+ rating from CharityWatch.org and has received a perfect, 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for 14 consecutive years. The Foundation has also received the Independent Charities Seal of Excellence and is part of the Combined Federal Campaign.
Ken also serves as co-chairman of the Intrepid Museum Foundation and has helped oversee the development of the Museum into a unique nonprofit educational institution which provides award-winning STEM programs to thousands of children in New York City’s public school system. The museum is home to the Space Shuttle Enterprise, British Airways Concord as well as the USS Growler. He also served as the chairman of the 2016 Invictus Games in Orlando. Working alongside Prince Harry, Ken led the efforts to bring the games to the U.S., leveraging the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding and respect for wounded, injured and sick service members.
In 2007, Ken was appointed by the Bush Administration to the President’s Commission on Care of America’s Returning Wounded Warriors and has served on several policy boards in support of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and former U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. He has been a key contributor to several roundtable discussions in support of Secretary of Defense, James Mattis. Ken is a member of the Board of Directors for the United States Army Command and General Staff College and the Board of Directors of the Business Executives for National Security (BENS).
Ken attended Ithaca College and received an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science from the university in May 2016. In addition, Ken has received a series of distinctions, inductions and high civilian honors including being named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report. Additional honors form a wide-ranging list that includes the Phelps Award from the Friends of the Vietnam Memorial (2017); the HillVets 100 (2018); the Department of Veterans Affairs (The Secretary’s Award, 2004); Department of Defense (Medal for Distinguished Public Service, 2012, 2013); the George C. Marshall Medal (U.S. Army, 2009); the Special Forces Association (Honorary Green Beret, 2007); the United States Marine Corps (Honorary Marine, 2011); the Order of Military Medical Merit (Inducted 2001); the Paralyzed Veterans of America (Public Awareness Award,); A+E Television Networks (Lives That Make A Difference Award,), Ellis Island Medial of Freedom (2001), Heroes of Military Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award (2014): The VFW Citizenship Award (2019).
Ken lives in New York with his wife, Tammy, and is the proud father of three children and two beautiful granddaughters.