New Member Spotlight

 

 

Kathleen Marker
CEO, YWCA

 

As a citizen of the world and first-generation American, Kathleen Marker came home to Topeka, Kansas in 2016 as the CEO at the YWCA Northeast Kansas, to lead their mission of eliminating racism, empowering women and standing for social justice for all. With a diverse background in commercial banking, finance, international business development, and higher education, her personal mission was to end her professional life with a career giving back to the community that gave her so much. 

 

As CEO of the YWCA, she oversees a committed staff of over 80 individuals who address the needs of women, children and families via direct services in tandem with strategies of community issue education and public policy advocacy. Her belief is that social transformation requires a spectrum of responses from meeting direct needs to transforming institutional and public policy. She personally facilitates the Emerging Leaders course training women new to leadership to develop their presence, navigate stages of team development and manage conflict.

 

She is currently Chair of iNCLUDED, Greater Topeka Partnership’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiative and involved with Heartland Visioning’s diversity and inclusion group. She is a member of the United Way of Topeka’s Advocacy committee and active participant in their Covid-19 response team working on the communities’ needs related to housing, early childhood education and hunger.