Cincinnati, OH | Class 3 – Exp. 2030 –
Kate Nelson is a nationally recognized organizational change management expert, accomplished executive, and thought leader with more than 30 years of experience helping organizations navigate complex transformations, strengthen leadership effectiveness, and build high-performing cultures. Throughout her career, she has partnered with senior executives across healthcare, consumer products, retail, manufacturing, and professional services to successfully lead large-scale change initiatives and drive sustainable organizational performance.
As Founding Partner of Change Guides LLC, Kate has advised organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to mission-driven nonprofits on strategy execution, leadership alignment, organizational effectiveness, and culture transformation. Her expertise has been instrumental in helping leaders guide their organizations through mergers and acquisitions, enterprise technology implementations, supply chain transformations, and significant shifts in business strategy.
Among her notable accomplishments, Kate led organizational change management initiatives supporting the adoption of e-commerce for a $150 billion grocery retailer, guided leadership teams through post-merger integration at an $8 billion medical device manufacturer, and directed change management programs for global supply chain transformations and enterprise-wide technology implementations at leading organizations.
Prior to founding Change Guides, Kate served as Managing Director at Nelson Consulting Group and spent nearly a decade with Deloitte Consulting, where she advanced from Consultant to Senior Manager. She began her professional career as a Governor’s Fellow for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Kate is also a respected author and contributor to the field of organizational change. She co-authored The Change Management Pocket Guide: Tools for Managing Change, The Eight Constants of Change: What Leaders Need to Know to Drive Change and Win, and Managing Change in an Agile World: Principles and Practices, publications that have become valuable resources for leaders and practitioners worldwide.
A committed volunteer leader, Kate currently serves as Chair of the Town of Jupiter Island Local Planning Agency, Vice Chair of the Academic Research Award Committee for the Association of Change Management Professionals, and a Board Member of the Cincinnati Squash Academy.
Kate earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies, cum laude, from William & Mary and holds both a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Natural Resources from The Ohio State University.
Not only does Kate bring a unique combination of strategic insight, governance experience, leadership development expertise, and a deep understanding of how organizations successfully adapt and thrive in periods of change, but she is also is a passionate squash parent who brings a unique Midwest perspective to our Board. Kate’s daughter recently graduated from Princeton University, where she was a member of the squash team and her son is currently a squash student-athlete at Denison University.
