Cathy’s passion lies in helping others succeed, individually, and as a team.
As an organizational coach, Cathy understands that culture is the work environment of an organization, including mission, vision, core values and clearly communicated goals, roles, responsibilities and expectations of the team. While working with clients, Cathy walks them through a strategic planning process to enhance the current culture or to create a cultural change, starting with the creation of a vision for their organization and ends with an implementation plan to achieve desired goals.
Cathy’s strengths include:
- With a considerate and analytical listening style, Cathy can dig through the symptoms to identify key issues, facilitate conversations and create action plans needed to address the issues.
- She has an extremely high sense of quality control and detail orientation in all she does for the team or organization. This is especially important when creating and implementing new programs.
- With a careful eye on the organizational clock and maintaining a keen awareness of time-lines for systems and projects, she can ensure implementation and follow through on projects and plans.
Through her 20 years of working with nonprofits, primarily community foundations, Cathy engaged potential donors in conversations about various aspects of philanthropy, providing guidance on major gift and planned gift strategies. She also coached numerous nonprofits on ways to work with community foundations to achieve their goals.
As Executive Director of the Bird City Century II Development Foundation for nearly 11 years, Cathy was able to achieve a long-time dream of a regional community foundation for northwest Kansas. The board of directors agreed to change the name of the foundation and expand the geographic area, creating the Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation. The regional foundation offered an opportunity for increased efficiencies for all affiliates and provided a giving tool for stakeholders; the residents of northwest Kansas.
Cathy has served as the chair of the Kansas Commission for Rural Policy, served on the ad hoc committee to organize the Kansas Association of Community Foundations and then served as board member, has served on the Northwest Kansas Planning and Development Commission board of directors, the Rawlins County Extension Council, and currently the Fort Hays State University Alumni Board. Cathy has a B.S. in Business Management from Fort Hays State University.