ABOUT KAT
My house is located just north of the Truckee Tahoe Airport, and we hear a lot of noise and have registered a lot of complaints. Because of this, I was encouraged by a board member to join the Airport Community Advisory Team in 2015. I served on ACAT for five years and I took a turn as president. It was quite a learning experience, and I found that I really enjoyed working with my fellow members (particularly learning from the pilots) and the airport staff.
One of the areas where I saw an opportunity concerned the money the airport was granting to the community. For several years I worked with other ACAT members to draft structure and policy around these donations; I am proud to say that the airport has now adopted these policies and the board is currently in our second round of forming community partnerships with our regional nonprofits.
Since arriving in Truckee, I have found great joy in helping our community through various volunteer jobs. I was very active while my kids were attending TTUSD schools, serving in leadership roles including chair of PTO and school site councils, participant on the Superintendent/Parent team, and member of committees to hire key personnel as a parent representative. I also served for many years on the Citizen’s Review Committee for Measure A.
In 2010 I was selected to sit on the board of the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, a position I held for the maximum nine years. During that time I served on the executive committee for three years, on the hiring committee for a new Executive Director, and on the strategic planning committee. I have also participated on the grants committee since 2010 and on the scholarship committee since 2013, work that I continue to do to this day.
I was also elected in 2010 to the board of the Excellence in Education Foundation as a liaison for Alder Creek Middle school and subsequently for Truckee High School and Sierra Continuation School. In this role I assisted teachers with writing grants and advocated for them on the Allocations committee. It has been an honor to serve this wonderful community in all of these different roles and I look forward to the opportunity to continue to do so on the Airport board.
A little bit about my background: I was raised in North Carolina and received my education in the Midwest at Oberlin College. My husband and I moved west to Silicon Valley in 1990, then moved our family of five to Truckee in 2006. We quickly embraced the Tahoe lifestyle and the kids loved living in the same town as their grandparents and cousins.
I have never had a job I loved as much as being a mom. A few years after we moved to Truckee we welcomed another teenager into our home. We are proud to have seen all four kids graduate from Truckee High and have success in college.
