Kathy Park

EVIDENT CHANGE | MADISON, WISCONSIN

THE CATALYST COLLECTIVE PROGRAM has been the first and only space designed for nonprofit leaders of color that I’ve been a part of. The impact on my personal program experience has been challenging, enlightening, and deeply engaging.

I have so much wisdom from this experience to share with my organization and communities. We’ve really been given the time and space to rethink and envision a better future for our sector. I’m most excited about the possibility of normalizing a new standard and a redefined vision of nonprofit leadership arising from what we are seeing modeled in the world by people of color, particularly women, like those who have been part of the collective. There is so much wisdom from the leadership of women of color that has been overlooked for far too long.

Organizational leaders who are committed to this work need both financial and emotional support to sustain their organizations and leadership. It is no easy feat to dismantle longstanding historical practices and the barriers set up against our communities. For our leaders and sector to thrive, it is incredibly valuable, even necessary, to receive flexible general operating support, with a key focus on equity and diversity in their organizational cultures.

ABOUT

As CEO of Evident Change, Kathy provides strategic vision while overseeing programmatic and organizational operations. Kathy has led key initiatives including Data for Equity, ethics in predictive analytics, Pay for Success and Social Innovation Finance projects, and renaming and rebranding the 115-year-old organization. She has partnered throughout her tenure with numerous state and local social services agencies across the United States and internationally to transform child welfare, juvenile justice, and adult protective services systems by infusing research-based and data-driven approaches into decision making.