Ann Stern is the President and CEO of Houston Endowment, a private foundation with assets totaling approximately $1.8 billion. Created by Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones in 1937, Houston Endowment’s mission is to enhance the vibrancy of greater Houston and advance equity of opportunity for the people who live here. The Endowment invests approximately $80 million each year in organizations that support and promote education, the environment, health, human services, arts and culture. Since its inception, the Foundation has contributed more than $1.6 billion.
Prior to joining the Foundation in 2012, Ms. Stern was executive vice president of Texas Children’s Hospital. She previously served as vice president and general counsel for the Hospital. Prior to joining Texas Children’s, she practiced law with Beck, Redden & Secrest and Andrews Kurth, and she taught business law at the University of St. Thomas.
Stern received her bachelor’s degree in Plan II from the University of Texas at Austin, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. She also received a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2011, she received the Law School’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for Community Service.
Stern currently serves as a director on the boards of Invesco Funds, The University of Texas Law School Foundation and Good Reason Houston. She previously served as the chairman of the board of St. John’s School and on the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and Texas Children’s Hospital.
She and Karl Stern, an attorney with Quinn Emanuel, have two children and two grandchildren.