San Diego County CA— Ken Van Vranken has joined 2-1-1 San Diego as Vice President of Client Services. With a background in global customer service and leadership support over the past three decades, Van Vranken will oversee management of 2-1-1’s highly-trained Client Service Representatives (CSRs) who navigate callers through their situations by assessing their needs and then matching them to the best and closest resource in their community. Assistance is confidential and offered in more than 200 languages and dialects.
“2-1-1 San Diego is a local nonprofit organization with an effective business model supported by a diverse funding stream that includes support from the County of San Diego, as well as nonprofit and corporate partners,” said William York, Executive Vice President, 2-1-1 San Diego. “We know that having a leader like Ken with a proven record in managing a high-performing team of talented customer service professionals who are trained to provide a wide range of immediate resources and support to local individuals and families will result in improving the health of the entire San Diego community.”

“Every hour of every day, someone in San Diego County searches for services, ranging from substance abuse treatment to care for a child or aging parent or financial assistance, and I am proud to contribute to the community in my new role,” Van Vranken said. “We connect more than 200,000 people annually to more than 6,000 health and human service programs. Sometimes, finding help can feel insurmountable, but 2-1-1 is here to help.”
York said many of 2-1-1 San Diego’s CSR staff members are certified by the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS). With 150-staff and a $13 million budget, Van Vranken will be a key contributor in 2-1-1 San Diego’s development and support of new community service offerings. This includes 2-1-1’s newly launched state-of-the-art Community Information Exchange (CIE), a collaborative multi-dimensional needs assessment that provides case planning, facilitated connection to services, through ongoing resource navigation for shared clients powered by SalesForce, a customer relationship management system.
Prior to joining 2-1-1, Van Vranken led global support operations for Pole to Win International, the world’s largest interactive gaming services organization, supporting more than 750 clients and programs. Under his guidance, the firm’s support division grew from three contact centers to 11 over the last three years, with the addition of new locations in the U.S., United Kingdom, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Romania.
Van Vranken’s background also includes leading international support operations for Microsoft and Fujitsu, and serving as a member of the launch team for the USA Today newspaper.
Van Vranken is active in the community as a board member for two nonprofits that focus on helping children in need. He was a founding board member of Ronald McDonald House Charities in Memphis, Tenn., and served as board president for six years and is still an active board member. The Memphis House exclusively provides a “Home Away From Home” for the young patients being treated at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital (www.stjude.org) and their families. Van Vranken has also served as an ad-hoc board member at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
2-1-1 San Diego serves as a lifeline connecting San Diegans to more than 6,000 community, health and disaster support services, 24-hours a day in more than 200 languages, through a simple three-digit number, searchable online database and online chat. 2-1-1’s Community Information Exchange technology improves the lives and health outcomes of San Diego’s through improved care coordination that unites information across our community providers.