Katherine S. Villers
Kate is founder of Community Catalyst.
Prior to founding Community Catalyst, Villers in 1982 co-founded the Villers Foundation and, in 1989, its successor organization, Families USA. She played significant board and operating roles for these organizations that included day-to-day direction of their Massachusetts programs.
Kate founded Community Catalyst in 1998 to bring consumer and community voices into health reform debate in all states, not just Massachusetts. Since then, state infrastructure groups have achieved a myriad of state-level reforms with support from Community Catalyst. These reforms have increased access to better quality, more affordable care for millions of people across the U.S. and also built momentum for national health reform through the Affordable Care Act.
An urban planner by trade, Kate previously founded New Communities Housing Management Corporation and also was research director for the Interfaith Housing Corporation and the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency. She has served on the boards of several national, state and local organizations, including the Associated Grantmakers of Massachusetts, Women and Foundations, Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, Concord Housing Authority and the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. She serves on the boards of Massachusetts Health Care for All and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare Foundation. She has a master’s degree in urban affairs from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Grinnell College.