Katie has a Master’s degree in End-of-Life Care from George Washington University and has worked professionally as a Certified Child Life Specialist in healthcare since 2002. She has developed sustainable team approaches to providing compassionate and effective care for children and families during high stress medical emergency situations.

Katie is the Co-Founder of CLDR and was the first executive director for the organization for several years while working in the Emergency Department at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Katie transitioned to CLDR board president in 2020 and is now the board treasurer and deployment coordinator alongside her healthcare career.  Katie believes this organization would not be where it is today without all those who have joined and continue to join to make it what it is.