Partner & Managing Director; Charlotte, NC

Driving systemic improvement at the intersection of strategy, governance, and finance with a focus on engaging community in major change initiatives. 

As Partner and Managing Director, Katie leads Afton’s ECE and K12 initiatives to create effective and sustainable programs, policies, and systems with our clients and their communities. Through her work, Katie aims to create a future where all children, and especially those most historically underserved, have the opportunity to reach their potential. Katie is a cross-functional leader, systems thinker, and practitioner-at-heart who blends an innovation mindset, relentless pragmatism, and a penchant for getting things done to find real solutions for real people. Since joining Afton in 2014, Katie has led advisory, facilitation, and research engagements on behalf of governors, legislatures, state agencies, school districts, charter schools, and other impact-focused organizations doing great work for kids.  She is a sought-out expert in solving our most pressing and complex challenges in ECE and K12 finance and governance, and she grounds her work with a deep appreciation for the input of the communities impacted and those that implement solutions. 

In partnership with our clients and team members, Katie’s work includes:

• Facilitating legislative and gubernatorial ECE Commissions and Task Forces across multiple states, grounded in research, data, and community input, to design solutions for increased access to effective, high-quality, responsive ECE services
• Developing and designing new ways to fairly and transparently fund communities and providers for ECE services while reducing system complexity and administrative burden.
• Planning for and guiding the execution of state and local governance changes to improve service delivery for children and families.
• Designing and implementing more equitable school funding policies and practices through community engagement and facilitation, research and data analysis, capacity building and training, and project management supports.
• Developing governance and funding structures to promote adequate and inclusive services for children and families participating in Early Intervention, Early Childhood Special Education, and Special Education services. 
• Developing meaningful and transparent financial reporting initiatives and supporting State and Local finance functions in transitioning from a compliance to a service mindset.
• Supporting states, districts, and schools in creating the financial and governance conditions conducive to innovation, including technology-enabled learning models. 

Prior to joining Afton, Katie served as Strategy & Operations Director for Discovery Education and Chief of Staff for the Office of Innovation at Chicago Public Schools. At CPS, Katie supported the District’s budget restructuring, co-authored its 10-Year Facilities Master Plan, guided the District’s charter school authorization and accountability processes, and led project management for the district’s school footprint restructuring. Earlier in her career, Katie spent nearly a decade in progressing roles in financial and operational management for Baxter Healthcare and Ford Motor Company. Katie holds an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and a BBA in Finance from the University of Notre Dame. 

As a mom of two young children, Ryan and Ellie, this work is personal to Katie. She and her husband and children live in Charlotte, NC, but she is a born-and-raised Detroiter who still maintains her Motor City grit. Outside of Afton, Katie is a mom-on-a-mission, supporting the Rare Kidney Disease Foundation through patient programming and policy and advocacy efforts to develop a cure for Autosomal Dominant Tubulointerstitial Kidney Disease (ADTKD), a disease that has impacted Katie and her family.