Katie has a Master of Social Work Administration degree from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Marshall University. She is a licensed clinical social worker in the State of Ohio and is a certified Trauma Informed Trainer, Evaluator, and Consultant for the Teaching Family Model.
Prior to founding Found Village, formerly Villedge, in 2015, she worked as a Behavioral Support Consultant and Behavioral Manager for The Children’s Home in Cincinnati for 9 years. Katie has extensive expertise overseeing and supporting the integration and implementation of fidelity models into schools and treatment programs serving the city’s most vulnerable young people. In addition to her role in the schools, she continues to build her clinical expertise through part time work; providing counseling services in the community to clients and families. Katie supervises staff, oversees programs and also serves as a staff navigator, developing treatment plans for Found Village youth.
Katie and Iloba Nzekwu founded Found VIllage in 2015 with a mission to ensure that all children in the Greater Cincinnati Area have the same opportunities and support systems they need to reach their potential. Katie’s work at Found Village is informed by her personal experience of living in a detention center for a year as a teenager. Having been served by dozens of therapists and providers as a vulnerable youth, Katie has firsthand experience of the negative impacts of well-intentioned service providers, when the basic foundation of love, belonging and safety have not been met.