Re-Meet Kate Kelly

Staff Highlight Series

Date: August 28, 2026

What does your day-to-day work look like?

No two days are the same! I wear a lot of hats across finance, operations, and development. On any given day, I might be maintaining our general ledger, looking ahead to our next fundraising campaign or planning the Horizon Benefit, and making sure Foster Progress stays organized, compliant, and financially strong. I love that the role lets me move between the details of our day-to-day operations and the bigger-picture work of helping the organization grow.

What is your favorite part of working at Foster Progress?

The people. From our students and mentors to our donors and staff, I love being surrounded by such compassionate, thoughtful, and intelligent people. There are some huge problems in our world, but there are equally smart and dedicated people working hard to solve them. Being part of that kind of community is incredibly meaningful to me.

What’s something you enjoy doing outside of work?

I love to bake. During COVID, I started making sourdough bread, and I still try to bake a loaf at least once a week. My five-year-old daughter, Chloe, loves to help me bake cookies, too. Our current favorite is homemade Oreos!

What’s something about your work at Foster Progress that you’re especially proud of?

I am the money person, so I’m especially proud of the financial growth I’ve seen over the last five years. When I started, Foster Progress had just one or two grants; today, we hold two DCFS contracts and receive at least six grants a year (with my eyes on a few more)! I’m incredibly proud to be part of building an organization with a strong financial foundation that can be here for the long haul, supporting young people who have experienced foster care for many years to come.

What part of our mission resonates with you the most?

When I first started at Foster Progress, Kate Danielson put time on everyone’s calendars for us to go through our organizational values together. Five years later, I still feel like those six values really guide how we carry out our mission and make decisions.

My favorite is Resourceful: “We cut through red tape and navigate bureaucracies so we can access and leverage every resource available to our youth. We stay nimble so we can do whatever it takes for our youth to succeed. We are generous with what we have.”

So often, our young people are shut out of resources because of circumstances completely outside of their control. I love watching our team come together, get creative, and be generous with what we have to make sure they still get the support they need.

What’s a hobby, activity, or passion that you enjoy spending time on?

This summer, I took up hand embroidery and absolutely love it! So far, I’ve embroidered tote bags, a picture frame, and a pencil pouch, with a few sweatshirts for my girls already on deck for the fall.

What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?

My husband and I are in the thick of raising young kids, Chloe is 5 and Margo is almost 3, so my favorite days off are the ones where I get to say “yes” to their imaginative ideas. “Yes, you can put glow sticks in the bathtub.” “Yes, we can make hot chocolate even though it’s 85 degrees outside.” “Yes, we can cuddle and watch The Grinch before bed again.” Then, ideally, some Below Deck Mediterranean with my husband and an early bedtime. That sounds like a pretty perfect day off to me.