kate lesniak, 2021

hey, I'm kate.

they/them and she/her are my best reflection.

I'm obsessed with the mediums and the messages that make us who we are. I’m a strategist for change. I’m also an organizer, product nerd, fundraiser, and facilitator. My work focuses on what it means to be independent, and how an organization’s financial model finds its way into each of its products and offerings. I’ve worked within PACs, campaigns, 501(c)3s, and B-Corps—and am currently building a nonprofit program for an industry-leading tech company.

My gender identity informs how I move through the world and apply my skills to challenge all systems of oppression and build more equitable environments. I am always questioning our current understanding of ourselves and others and how we can allow each person the agency and space we need to define our own stories. In one way or another, my career has reflected a structural approach to these foundational questions.

Before HubSpot, I served as Chief Strategy Officer at ThinkShout, where I focused on how nonprofit organizations could use digital to transform our world without undermining reciprocity, respect, and personal agency. Alongside talented designers, project managers, and developers, I led strategy on redesigns for the World Resources Institute, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hate Map, Freedom House’s website and iconic Freedom in the World map, and Facing History’s Back to School Toolkit, among many, many other projects. In 2020, I also worked with a team to launch the WonderLab and develop the engagement approach Consent-Based-Calibration, which was accepted to and well received at SXSW the following year.

Before I joined ThinkShout, I loved applying my skills in independent media as publisher at Bitch Media, where I focused on how the business of media is constantly evolving through new engagement models and platforms.

In all of my work, I value context, creativity, and accountability. If you're curious to know more about my professional experience, you can take a look at my resume.

I’m a product of Buffalo New York, Burlington Vermont, and about 1,000 feet of snow: I take pride in turning the inclement into opportunity. I live in Portland, OR, and find my joy in parenting, being outside, eating good food, and going for long walks. I’m also an athlete. Random fact: In college, I served as team captain for a Division I ice hockey team and scored the first-ever hat trick in UVM’s history.

Enough about me. What about you?

 

Public Work 

Accolades & Leadership

  • HubSpot Fellow, HubSpot (2022)

  • Online News Association, Member of Women’s Leadership Accelerator (2018)

  • Media Shift, Top 20 Digital Media Innovators (2017)

  • Program Committee Member, The Media Consortium (January 2016 – Present)

  • Financial Advisory Board Member, Feministing (August 2013-January 2014)

  • Steering Committee Member, The Media Consortium (October 2013-December 2014)

  • Development Committee Member, The Media Consortium (February 2013-December 2013)

  • 2008 Student of the Year Award – University of Vermont Center for University-Community Partnerships

  • 2008 Athlete of the Year Award – University of Vermont Women’s Center

 

Upcoming Presentations

Now booking for digital engagements. Get in touch with me here.

April 2018 Keynote at Magazines Canada in Toronto, Ontario.

April 2018 Keynote at Magazines Canada in Toronto, Ontario.

 

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