Since joining Cincinnati Cares in early 2018, she has helped lead our Generation to Generation Cincinnati, an initiative of Encore Cincinnati, a regional innovation partnership that supports the national Gen2Gen campaign to mobilize one million adults over the age of 50 to improve the lives of children in our country. She has been instrumental in creating relationships with youth-serving nonprofits in the Greater Cincinnati region, and serves Cincinnati Cares in a variety of expanding roles.
Her passion for educational equity drew her to work with the YMCA as an academic site coordinator for Rees E. Price Academy in Price Hill. She selected evidenced-based curriculum and supervised a cohort of tutors who delivered the content to students in grades K-3. Additionally, she supported the after-school program by guiding the activities to meet the rigorous standards of the YMCA’s 21st Century Community Learning Center grant.
She specialized in European History with a focus on English education policy while pursuing a Master’s in History at the University of Cincinnati. As a graduate assistant, she led many discussion sections of undergraduates in early American history, modern European history, and WWI, and coached them to develop the essential skills necessary to be historians and successful adult learners (primary source analysis, clear writing, debating conflicting ideas, time management). She pursued two graduate courses through the School of Education, a doctoral course in Education Policy and master’s course in Curriculum Theory and Trends, which have helped developed her understanding of Cincinnati’s education landscape.
As program coordinator for the National Endowment for the Humanities and Arts Summer Institute in 2014, she developed relationships and coordinated events, exhibits and social media with institute scholars, presenters, and institute partners, including Cincinnati Museum Center, American Jewish Archives, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Mercantile Library, Cincinnati Art Museum, and Lloyd Library.
While in Washington, D.C., she was a humanities educator, teaching 20th century U.S. History to socio-economically diverse, multicultural students in the 7th grade, U.S. History Through Film to students in grades 9-12, and World History to students in 9th grade. While there, she worked on a committee to design curriculum and train volunteers to conduct a student directed teach-in, and as a member of the school’s technology team, piloted a Learning Management System, and helped select the LMS adopted school-wide.
While Katie earned a B.S. in Secondary Education and a B.A. in History from Loyola University Chicago, she taught in numerous public schools to gain an understanding of the myriad ways to serve students in need. Living in Over-the-Rhine spurred her towards addressing the challenges associated with children experiencing poverty.
While running the Literacy Lab at Reese E. Price Academy, Katie was introduced to the power of quality improvement systems, which she applied to her Home Library Project initiative. Volunteers played a critical role in her program, enhancing students’ education while simultaneously enriching the volunteers’ lives. Katie joined the Cincinnati Cares team to support connecting more Cincinnatians to fulfilling volunteer experiences.
