Kathy Keeley’s expertise includes strategic planning and solution-building, project design, performance assessment and management, board and staff retreats, social enterprise, finance and economic development, and executive coaching.

With experience as a social entrepreneur, a consultant, the chief of staff for the mayor of Minneapolis, founder of multiple organizations, and the director of nonprofit and for-profit businesses, Keeley has worked with organizations of all kinds in 50 states and 30 countries. Over her 35-plus years working in and with nonprofits, she has turned around struggling and underperforming ventures, helped launch new companies and initiatives, and given established successes new pathways toward efficiency and expansion.

Among the many roles she held prior to joining GCN, Keeley led Decatur-based nonprofit All About Developmental Disabilities as executive director; ran her own national consulting firm, serving nonprofits and large cities; founded the Women’s Economic Development Corporation, the nation’s first loan fund for women-owned businesses, and served as its president for 10 years; was a senior fellow and program director at the Corporation for Enterprise Development, a D.C.-based economic development and policy think tank; and helped launch both the Calvert Foundation and the Association for Enterprise Opportunity. Her unique portfolio of expertise has led her to serve cities like the District of Columbia and Nashville, and to be featured in major media outlets, including 60 Minutes, The Oprah Winfrey Show, ABC Evening News, BBC News, and Voice of America Radio.

Keeley lives in Social Circle on a farm with nine horses, three mini donkeys, and the requisite chickens, dogs, and cats. In her spare time, she is an avid gardener and a fiber artist—spinning, weaving, knitting, and sewing—but most enjoys being outdoors with her family and grandchildren.