Keith Jenkins currently serves as the president of Kettering Health Washington Township. For him, working at Kettering Health is a family affair—his father, mother, two brothers, wife, daughter-in-law, and son were (or currently are) Kettering Health employees!
Originally from Cleveland, Keith moved to the Dayton area in 1969 to attend Kettering College, before leaving to work in Washington D.C. in 1987. After his stint in D.C., Keith returned to Dayton to work at the VA Medical Center and other various human resources roles, before returning to Kettering Health in 2010.
In 2012, he became the director of Human Resources for the Kettering Health Dayton System, and in 2017, he also took on the role as chief inclusion officer. His passion for Human Resources and inclusion led him away from Kettering Health to start The Oniru Group, a human resources consultancy firm that was utilized by Kettering Health. This working relationship brought Keith back to Kettering Health as president of Kettering Health Washington Township, a post he officially took on January 1, 2022.
Unsurprisingly, Keith says his biggest accomplishment at Kettering Health (so far) is fostering engagement among the Kettering Health Dayton team when he was there—helping them rise from the lowest engagement scores to the highest over a three-year period.
For new employees, Keith’s advice is to look to those who have had success in the field you wish to pursue and stay humble. “In today’s workplace, you need a mentor or coach to guide you in your career decisions. I recommend having at least three trusted mentors in different generations to help advise your career moves. I personally have four different mentors that I routinely speak with to provide me with different perspectives for different aspects of my job and career decisions.”