Meet Katie
Hi, I’m Katie Belanger.
My purpose, both in the work I do and outside of it, is to bring groups of people together to make the world we live in fair, equal, and inclusive. In honor of that purpose, Katie B. Strategies, LLC is an openly queer woman-owned business run with a strong commitment to equity and representation, not only in the work that I do, but also the individuals and groups with whom I work.
My approach is dynamic - I am often the fresh perspective for new clients and the historical perspective for returning clients. I am passionate about what I do, and I believe in being brave. Making a difference takes courage, and I draw inspiration from the change-makers, the innovators, and the glass ceiling-shatterers with whom I have had the privilege of working. I encourage my clients to open up, dig deeper, and give more of themselves to their cause, because each is a catalyst in realizing our shared vision for the world.
Throughout my 20+ years of social justice and political work, I have developed a unique perspective on the interconnected relationship between motivating groups of people, developing strategic plans, and engaging dynamic leadership to achieve a shared goal. This organizational development experience, perspective, and expertise informs the basis of my approach and services at Katie B. Strategies.
My early roles were defined by being a specialist in one area or another: an organizer, a scheduler, a fundraiser, a lobbyist. I gained a deep understanding of the skills required to engage, train, and advocate for a shared vision and mission to create a more fair, just, and inclusive society. I worked for elected officials, candidates, nonprofits, and energetic teams organizing communities to bring about systemic change. During my time as CEO of statewide and national LGBTQ advocacy organizations, as well as serving as board chair for state and national nonprofits, I learned that my joy and my purpose is in being a generalist; that my joy lies in uniting individual parts of the work - and most importantly the people -to foster ambitious, visionary, and inspirational shared visions and goals.
Highlights of my work since launching my business in 2015 include:
✪ Helped multiple national and statewide social justice advocacy organizations develop a new, multi-year strategic plan through processes that included stakeholders at every level of the organizations and membership. Together, we dramatically increased their ability and capacity to achieve their goals by aligning on a shared vision, revitalizing their missions, developing an innovative and aggressive strategic plans, and crafting a detailed implementation plans.
Assessed the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the grassroots organizing work and policy priorities of a network of state-based economic and racial justice organizations to help advocates adapt to a new and volatile landscape. I was able to utilize my skills to meet the needs of advocates and move quickly within this ever-changing landscape to communicate the realities they face to their stakeholders and funders.
✪ Expanded the work of a national hub to include the development and ongoing support of eight statewide, cross-movement coalitions actively working to counter the abuse of state preemption and strengthen local democracy. With this client, I have designed advocacy campaigns, strategies, and implementation plans, connected state interference in local policy making to the broader systems upholding white supremacy in our country, expanded the network of advocates working to strengthen local democracy, and produced tools, trainings, and best practices to disseminate to a robust national and state network.
✪ Led multiple organizational reorganization processes and built out and managed human resource departments and projects including transitioning a national LGBTQ nonprofit from a fiscally sponsored project and a constellation of consultants to a stand-alone, fully staffed 501(c)3 and 501(c4) entities; leading a merger process between two statewide advocacy organizations, including revising the staffing model to unite two staff teams into one cohesive team; developing onboarding, management, feedback, and accountability training content and processes; assessing and aligning organization-wide, executive leadership, and department-specific staffing structures, job descriptions, and internal communication processes; and, restructuring the national hub dedicated to combatting abusive state preemption to better center equity and the voices of impacted communities in driving the organization’s agenda, decision-making, and resource allocation.
✪ Supported a national biological farming company preparing to put seven new manure digesters online. This fun and different project demonstrated that regardless of the subject matter, I am able to build an effective and efficient strategic planning process that leverages my clients’ expertise.
These experiences have been both rewarding and invaluable:
Learning is a two-way street, and just as I bring my past experience into my work with clients, I gain new insight and perspective from every client to bring into future projects. Every step forward is a monumental effort from these groups of people dedicated to changing the world, and I am both proud and honored to bring the knowledge I gain from each of them to the table. I am always delighted to apply what I learn from my clients in innovative, distinctive ways, and I look forward to working with each new client to create real, lasting change.
