Kate Pett

Kate Pett is the Executive Director of Thrive Asheville. Kate and Thrive partners have catalyzed community support to create collaborative leadership on community challenges, especially affordable housing, and to establish priorities that steer growth for the benefit of all of Asheville's residents - like sustainable tourism. Our mission is to convene diverse groups from our community to learn about our challenges, and to act on solutions together.

Kate has worked at the intersection of community development, education, and equity throughout her career. Kate led the Asheville City Schools Foundation for eleven years, during which time she greatly expanded the financial, human, and programmatic resources available to teachers and students in the Asheville City Schools. Kate utilized a collective-impact approach to align more than 50 after-school providers and vastly increased the number of middle school students actively engaged in healthy, educational activities after school. Kate was also the Educational Director of a wilderness program for adjudicated youth, and a classroom teacher in inner-city Detroit and the Asheville City Schools. Kate was a community organizer in Seattle, Washington where she developed a school-based resource center for vulnerable children and families. Kate served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines and Mali, supporting community education projects related to natural resources and public health. Much of what Kate knows about how to build community she learned from the villagers who generously hosted her.

Kate earned a B.A. in International Relations, with a focus on African Studies, at American University, in Washington, D.C. She also completed a Masters in Education, with a concentration in Urban Issues at the University of Michigan, where she was a Fellow.

Kate laughs often with her funny, musical husband Vince, who is a teacher and former Peace Corps Volunteer. Her children, Gabe and Juliana, are her greatest joys.