Kathy brings a background in strategic planning and urban economics to Urbane, where she leads and supports research and consulting projects with a specialty in small business ecosystems and economic mobility. 

Kathy leads Urbane’s national engagement with the Gates Foundation by planning and executing research related to economic mobility and opportunity for low-wage workers and small business owners. To guide this research, she has designed and led engagement with networks of ecosystem players throughout the country. Most recently, she led a partnership with Interise to develop job quality curricula for small business owners and design place-based pilots that create capital and support for small business owners to implement job quality practices.  
 
Kathy also leads and supports place-based projects throughout the United States. She worked closely with the CEDC in New Bedford, MA to perform research in an immigrant community and to plan the redevelopment of a historic movie palace into a multi-faceted hub for economic and cultural empowerment. In Springfield, MA, she worked with a large insurance and financial services provider to perform an ecosystem study of entrepreneurship and small business support and to develop strategies for the company to support equity and innovation in the Western Massachusetts region. Kathy worked with International Hartford to perform research and engagement in Hartford’s South End and to plan the development of a year-round private food truck court and community destination that will support a growing food truck ecosystem and improve neighborhood conditions. Kathy also worked on a team with the City of LA’s Department of Cannabis Regulation to develop strategies that will improve outcomes for cannabis entrepreneurs participating in its Social Equity Program. Previously, Kathy supported consulting projects with Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia, New York City Kids RISE, and City Harvest.  
 
As a graduate student, Kathy performed economic research and developed a long-term economic strategy for the City of Mount Vernon. She also worked with the non-profit law firm Her Justice, where she helped establish the organization’s policy department and led its first policy research projects. Before that, Kathy spent nearly three years at Community Solutions, where she managed fundraising and partnerships for neighborhood initiatives. During this time, Kathy established and led the organization’s first diversity, inclusion, and equity program as well as its individual giving strategy.