Katharine boasts a diverse and impactful career journey, transitioning from an English teacher to a seasoned professional wordsmith. Her experience encompasses roles such as Development and Communications Manager at Grassroots Health, where she orchestrated successful communication strategies and secured substantial funding.
Katharine holds an MBA and a B.S.Ed., underpinning her proficiency in grant management, marketing, and education. Her extensive skill set includes copywriting, social media management, data analytics, and cross-functional communication. With certifications in teaching and a background in major gift development, she's a versatile professional adept at both words and strategy.
Katharine has a passion for using the written word to further advance the missions of organizations and individuals working to make the world brighter. She enjoys finding ways to bring alive quantitative and qualitative data in her storytelling as a way to market and advocate.
Katharine studied both social studies and Spanish at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She was named Summa Cum Laude as well as a Provost Scholar. She completed over 500 community service hours and led her co-ed co-ed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega as the president. She also received the Erik Slebodnik scholarship for exceptional academic excellence and commitment to the History department.
Katharine completed her MBA program through a full scholarship through the Teach For America Graduate Fellowship Program. As part of the fellowship, she was required to craft a business plan for an emerging community program that provided education and resources to help community members in need secure sustainable housing.
In her studies, she gained invaluable experience in writing general business plans, SWOT analysis, marketing/communication strategy, and development plans for local organizations in both Cleveland and Clarksdale, Mississippi.
During her one-week course, Katharine acquired a multifaceted skill set for non-profit development. She learned to harness the power of an organization's mission to inspire and mobilize volunteers effectively. Furthermore, she developed a clear organizational vision for major gifts, honed the ability to structure and manage major gift programs, and nurtured leadership within these initiatives. Katharine also gained expertise in addressing volunteers' reservations about soliciting gifts, skillfully responding to objections during presentations, and defining the roles of both board members and staff in major gift fundraising. Her training equipped her with a structured eight-step major gifts process and the ability to integrate current research findings into her approach. Lastly, she developed the capacity to forge crucial leadership partnerships to drive fundraising success.
Katharine is a certified English/Social Studies teacher and has served in public schools, private schools, and the after-school program space. She also served as a state-wide k-12 instructional coach with Teach For America for two years, which grounds her in larger shifts and challenges facing the American educational sector.
Because of her extensive background in education, Katharine is able to create engaging, accessible content that fosters understanding and drives positive change for education-based nonprofit organizations and school districts.
Katharine's MBA has played a pivotal role in honing her skills in crafting effective marketing and communication strategies, as well as comprehensive business plans. It provided her with a strategic mindset, advanced knowledge in marketing and data analytics, and a deep understanding of business strategy. This foundation, coupled with her diverse work experience, empowers her to create compelling, data-driven strategies and business plans that drive results and align with organizational goals.
With a decade-long career spanning education, nonprofit development, and communications, Katharine is exceptionally skilled in crafting compelling narratives for nonprofits. Her experience in securing funding, managing grant programs, and representing organizations at conferences uniquely equips her to write persuasive content that resonates with donors, stakeholders, and the wider community.
Since 2011, Katharine has applied for grants and partnerships on behalf of several education-based non-profit organizations. The process of crafting grant applications required her to eloquently articulate the project's objectives, outcomes, and budget.
By engaging in the grant application process, she gained a deeper understanding of the criteria and considerations used to evaluate proposals, honing her ability to assess project feasibility, impact, and alignment with funding priorities.