Kathryn J McKechnie

LSC Community Member for South Loop Elementary School
Self-Employed
 

I am naturally an entrepreneur. My formal education and all of my experience working for other people was in finance. After spending 10 years in finance I decided to go back to fashion school to chase my dream of building a clothing line that fits pear shaped women. I launched Crescendo Apparel in 2009 and pursued it until 2012. Since then I have taken on the role of stay at home mom and volunteered to improved equity in education in Chicago by participating in the fight to keep NTA (National Teacher’s Academy) a grade school. I have served on my condo association’s finance committee since its inception in 2001 and also served one year on the board. I also served a 2 year term on Step Up Women’s network board. My most recent adventure has been to run for Local School Council as part of a slate. I successfully won a seat, earning the most votes of any community member candidate, and am currently serving the second year of my 2 year term. My natural gifts are connecting people, brainstorming, and troubleshooting. With my son entering Kindergarten this fall, I feel like I will now have the time again to increase my volunteering commitments.

What I can bring to a board

I will bring my passion, financial acumen, business sense, and ability to make connections for an organization within my network. My husband was recently catching up with one of his high school classmates, who is stationed in Alaska, and is retiring from the military soon and possibly transition into life or executive coaching. I immediately thought of my classmate in my integral coaching cohort that lives in Alaska and is also on his second career as a coach.
 

What can I get from a board?

I genuinely enjoy helping people and making a difference. It was extremely satisfying to join the fight to keep NTA a grade school and be in the courtroom the day the judge issued the injunction and at the party when we all found out CPS was dropping their plan to convert the elementary school to high school because it was a violation of students’ civil rights. I enjoy being party of a team and contributing my strengths as I was able to do when I campaigned for Local School Council. That was one of the most rewarding teams I had the honor to be a part of. I would love to be able to be part of another team like that.
 

My skills

    • Financial Analysis
    • Making Connections
    • Seeing Unusual Connections
    • Detail Oriented
    • Problem Solving
    • Being In Action
    • Perceiving Small Changes that Create New Opportunities