Kate joined Health & Medicine in February 2024 and is responsible for leading the Collaborative in its effort to address trauma and ACEs to build resilience, promote healing, and advance equity throughout the state. She is a licensed clinical social worker and a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Social Work, where she was a Community Initiatives Fellow. Kate has more than 15 years of experience working in social services, including working in the adult and juvenile justice systems, providing child and family therapy in community mental health programs, and providing mental health therapy and consultation in K-12 schools. Kate has five years of experience working in public health, including providing Spanish language communications support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kate has experience bringing together multi-sector coalitions to enact systems multi-sector coalitions to enact system change. Under Kate’s leadership, the Kane County System of Care, a 7-year, 2.1-million-dollar grant, was recognized as an innovator in engaging Latinx families and expanding peer support services in the local system of care for children’s behavioral health. Kate has a special interest in trauma-informed care, perinatal mood disorders, and postpartum mental health care, working with Spanish-speaking immigrant youth and families, improving language access and bilingual services, and empowering family and youth voices within institutions. Kate has lived and worked in both El Salvador and Mexico and is bilingual in Spanish.