Katherine has been a member of WIF since 2015. Her past involvement includes chairing the Member Education Committee in 2017-2018 and she is especially proud of the program “Women, Race & the Space Between Us” which influenced WIF’s critical DEI work that is ongoing. One of the things she loves about WIF is the flexibility to step in and out as life outside of WIF demands attention. She currently serves as the Spark Committee vice chair following a period when she needed to step back.
Katherine was born in Cheraw, SC (home of jazz great, Dizzy Gillespie!) and has lived throughout the Southeast before graduating from Washington and Lee University with a degree in American History. After college, she spent a couple of years with the Atlanta History Center in marketing and development roles and then earned a master’s in marketing and communications from the University of South Carolina.
She returned to the nonprofit sector, following a job with Arthur Andersen which brought her to Charlotte in 2002. She spent nearly 19 years with the Arts & Science Council, where she oversaw ASC’s investments in grantmaking, pre K-12 education and public art, and led the design and delivery of numerous programs, including ASC’s Community Supported Art Program which connects local artists with local buyers, and the Cultural Leadership Training (CLT) Program, which identifies, trains, and matches aspiring board members with arts, science, and history organizations. Katherine still runs the CLT Program in a contract capacity and loves the annual process of meeting passionate and engaged volunteers looking for the most meaningful ways to leverage their time and talents on behalf of local nonprofits. She has had the honor of working with nearly 500 graduates and over 50 organizations since the program’s inception in 2005. In addition to CLT, as a longtime advocate for local artists, one of her proudest moments was when ASC announced that it had invested over $1.2MM in local artists in FY22. That’s monumentally exciting to her considering when she started, they were granting around $50,000 annually through one multi-county program.
In 2021, Katherine founded MOKA Partners, LLC to provide project management, program design and delivery, governance and volunteer engagement support, and other services for nonprofit organizations and civically minded businesses. She’s also exploring a food-based concept centered around culinary coaching for home cooks looking to make their experience in the kitchen more fun, accessible, and delicious. You can follow her @KatAppetit on Instagram!
Outside of work, she and her husband Flynn love traveling. Favorite destinations include New Zealand, St. John USVI, Hawaii, Argentina, and Greece. A random fun fact: They’ve been to all major golf tournaments plus the Ryder Cup and President’s Cup and three of the four tennis majors. She admits to spending way too much time thinking, planning, and talking about food, organizing trips, practicing yoga, and spoiling their nearly 18-year-old (still feisty) dachshund, Jackie. Katherine encourages current and future WIF members to find their passion, be curious, and use their voices and influence to lift others up!
