Don Ankenbrandt has spent nearly four decades building relationships across Alabama and beyond — connecting people to one another, to meaningful causes, and to a clearer sense of calling.
His faith journey began with a Young Life ski trip in 1978, when he came to faith at Trail West Lodge in Colorado. That moment changed not just his life but his entire family. He went on to play college soccer, then joined Young Life staff right out of school in Mobile. After a season in medical sales, he returned to ministry in 1995 — and has never looked back.
As a Young Life regional director, Don spent 13 years starting new areas in 14 cities across Alabama and the Florida panhandle. His job was to find people with resources, hire and develop staff, and build something from scratch. He did it over and over again. In that work, he developed relationships that have lasted decades.
In 2007, Don launched Alliance Ministries — a Birmingham-based 501(c)(3) he founded to incubate new faith-based nonprofit organizations, provide fiscal support to ministries in formation, and run a benevolence fund that has served thousands of people with very practical felt needs. Over 18 years, Alliance has helped launch more than 35 ministries. Don has personally coached more than 1,000 men on questions of purpose, identity, and how to use their resources. His book The 210 Project, based on Ephesians 2:10, has been completed by more than 50,000 people, most of them in Alabama.
He also wrote Your True Reflection, a word study on identity done in the Greek, and has led an annual men’s ski trip to Colorado for 25 years, bringing more than 1,000 men through those experiences — and quietly watching relationships form between givers and ministries that have lasted decades.
Don has known Generous Life CEO Tim Vickers through Young Life for years. When the timing aligned, he made a formal commitment to serve as Birmingham Director for Generous Life. Alliance Ministries continues under his leadership as an independent organization, maintaining its fiscal sponsorship work and benevolence fund. Don’s focus with Generous Life is Birmingham — and increasingly, a cohort of younger givers across Alabama who are beginning to step into significant resources and looking for community, mentorship, and direction.