Katherine Ortwerth
General Manager
I have been working with nonprofits since I was a child helping my mother with her water therapy class for people with multiple sclerosis. Week after week, I watched hundreds of people increase their range of motion, feel better, move with greater ease, and smile! The work we did was recognized by the American Red Cross and developed into a national course. The class inspired me to pursue a future the nonprofit world. I have worked with many organizations over the years. Though each one is unique, they all hold one important thing in common: they are all great causes surrounded by an inordinate amount of passion.
I have enjoyed working in all aspects of nonprofits from being a volunteer to the president of the board of directors. It’s essential to provide a pathway for these missions to come alive. It is just as important to help at-risk youth as it is to create 1,000 new jobs in a community for growth or create a community garden in a food desert. I am proud to say I am a nonprofit fundraiser.
Kathy has over 20 years of nonprofit experience. Her early exposure to the nonprofit industry began when she volunteered for a water therapy group that was later adopted by the American Red Cross and published as a national course. More recently, she has concentrated her work on nonprofit fundraising and was appointed president of the board of directors of a local arts group.
With an extensive background in entrepreneurship, Kathy is a natural leader with excellent people management skills. She put these skills to work in the telephony, healthcare, and financial sectors before opening her own technology training consulting company in the Chicago area. Utilizing her degree in education, Kathy next offered her services as the VP of Academic Enrichment, developing curriculum for Fulton County Schools. In this position, she trained over 200 volunteers and founded an Environmental Education Program that supplemented the Georgia Performance Standards in Science.
Kathy currently leads the community through citizen engagement for a TSPLOST (Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) action. She also works with a task force that manages a local county grant for the arts for her area’s planned $55 million Cultural Arts Center.
In addition to her leadership experience, Kathy is an avid gardener. She has taught Exercise Physiology and Kinesiology and coached tennis and volleyball on a collegiate level.
Summary of Experience
- President, Board of Directors, Nonprofit Arts Group
- Volunteered in dozens of local nonprofit organizations holding director roles including coordination of volunteers, marketing, fundraising, and more
- Bloomberg Philanthropy AIM fundraising program participant
- Former VP of Academic Enrichment for Fulton County Schools
- Developed countywide curriculum for Environmental Education
- Owned a technology training company for 12 years
- Graduate of Leadership Johns Creek
- Graduate of Citizen’s Fire Academy
- Master of Arts in Education from Washington State University