kate baker williams

kate baker williams

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  • University of Illinois, Springfield | 2021

    Professional Focus: Evaluation, Project Management, Strategic Planning

  • Pacific Northwest College of Art | 2020
    Practical Focus: User Research, Organizational Design, Complex Stakeholder Facilitation

  • Pacific Northwest College of Art | 2020

    Research Focus: Institutional Theory & Social Equity

  • University of Illinois, Springfield | 2020

    Focus: Management of Nonprofits, Development, HR Principles

  • Illinois College | 2014

  • Six Sigma Global Institute | 2024

    Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner

EDUCATION + TRAINING

  • Employer: ZoomInfo, Revenue Enablement

    Key Functions: L&D consultation, User research, communication design, strategy, stakeholder engagement, data analysis, operations enhancement & AI capacity building, team development

  • Employer: Freelance (Self Employed)

    Key Functions: Qualitative Research, Facilitation, Workshop Design, Organizational Systems Consultation, Information Systems Consultation, Creative Strategy, Process Improvement.

  • Courses & Domains: Design Research, Design Thinking, Qualitative Research, Facilitation, Process

  • Employer: Think Rubix & Co, Social Impact Agency

    Key Functions: CX Strategy, Project Management, Process Improvement, Client Relationship Management

  • Employer: Future Work Design, Strategy Firm

    Key Functions: Research & Insights, Facilitation, Instructional Design, Learning & Development, Change Management, Employee Experience Design, Client Relationship Management, Project Management

  • Employer: Willamette University

    Key Functions: Data Analysis, Customer Relationship Management, Internal Product Ownership, User Research, Database Administration, Facilitation, Marketing Communications, Program Evaluation

  • Employer: Willamette University

    Key Functions: Data Analysis, Customer Relationship Management, Internal Product Ownership, User Research, Database Administration, Facilitation, Marketing Communications, Program Evaluation

  • Employer: BlueSprig

    Key Functions: Strategy business development, Performance Improvement, Training, Customer Relationship Management, Client Experience, Process Improvement, Strategic Communications, Stakeholder Management, Database Management, Data Analysis

Employment History

Tell me about yourself.

“I am a 30-something white american (she/her) making a home on the land called Portland, OR USA. I enjoy music and art, spending time outdoors, and playing sports (a little too competitively) among friends. I am honestly, and perhaps embarrassingly jazzed by a well-crafted spreadsheet and I love, love, love learning. My favorite thing to do at ‘work’ in any of my specialties truly is to make the good work of colleagues, collaborators, organizations, and creators go further by stepping into think of sticky, ambiguous, and even tedious problems and helping to find the best path around or through. Ideally and often, we emerge further toward our goals than we realized was possible.”

How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?

“I first take a breath (metaphorically and literally) and offer whatever support is needed to myself or my team/client for us to be stable to move forward. I will then review information and ask questions where needed to clarify the situation, problem, steps, timelines, etc. Building clarity where it is possible makes me feel better equipped to (1) know if I need to change my approach and (2) tolerate discomfort during the messy middle part that can arise in high-pressure projects.”

Tell me about your communication style.

“By default, I am a verbal processor who tends to develop more understanding by talking through things. However, I find that written and visual communication are critical tools to engage, align, inform, and animate folks around my work. I use visual design skills and administrative-minded writing approaches to help communicate in different situations and contexts. I value using acute and specific language to drill down into topics and co-create understanding, and I find that this is a huge part of my approach to mapping out a problem or solution. Something I am attuned to these days is making sure that my language and tone are accessible to the full range of partners or stakeholders I am working with, even on projects where there is a broad diversity of experiences present."

1:1 with katebaker