Kathleen Cox

Change agent

Kathleen Cox is a serial change agent: Previously as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer at the Washington National Cathedral, she led the organization through a financial and organizational restructuring in light of a fiscal crisis and consistent with a new strategic plan developed under her leadership focused on the role that religion can play in addressing societal problems . Prior to that, she was the COO then CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). During her eight years at CPB, she worked with the public broadcasting industry on efforts to adapt to the fast changing worlds of media and technology. At Bell Atlantic (now Verizon), Kathleen spent nine years as Intellectual Property Counsel with responsibility for developing systems for all trademark, copyright, and patent matters. In all of her professional roles Kathleen has immersed herself in intellectually engaging issues and novel questions, for example: questions relating to the protection and utilization of intellectual properties for strategic advantage at Bell Atlantic; at CPB, the transition from analog to digital technologies and the role of public service media in the nation in serving the common good; and at the National Cathedral, the extraordinary potential of faith and religion to be positive forces in public policies matters both domestically and internationally. She is especially proud of her work at the Cathedral to support two efforts:  An international conference at the Cathedral to launch a new alliance between women, faith and development groups formed to advance the empowerment of women and girls worldwide. The conference resulted in commitments of $1.2 billion.  A series of summits between very high ranking clerics from the Sunni, Shia, Catholic and Protestant traditions to advance dialogue and understanding. Summits were held at the National Cathedral, the Al-Amin Mosque in Beirut, Lebanon, and in Rome. Kathleen has done this while simultaneously managing a demanding household and along with her husband of 40 years, raising four great children into terrific adults. Kathleen is currently assisting the Coalition for the Transformation of Advanced Care in developing a comprehensives strategic plan to address the myriad issues facing the country around the challenges of an aging population. Additionally she is lending her support to the Washington DC startup scene particularly in the social entrepreneur space.

Using person centered design as a starting point to address small and large challenges facing society. Current areas of interest in this regard are: 1) the transformation of the health care delivery system which must be person centered and involve communities as part of the solution; and 2) the support of the entrepreneurial spirit of startups to advance these efforts. Seeing the world through adventure based trips.

Change Managment, Strategic Planning and Leadership, Team Leadership