Katherine Pease ’91 has been named the 2017 recipient of the Livesay Award for Social Change, presented annually to a Colorado College graduate who has made a significant career contribution to the nonprofit sector in Colorado over the years.

Pease graduated with honors with a degree in sociology and earned a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Colorado, where she also is a lecturer in the School of Public Affairs.

As the principal for the Colorado-based philanthropic advisory group, KP Advisors, she has worked with foundations, investors, and nonprofit organizations for more than 20 years. In addition to working with many emerging leaders in philanthropy and nonprofits as a mentor and teacher, she also has worked with CC’s Public Interest Fellowship Program fellows and graduate students at the University of Colorado, Denver. She regularly speaks about the intersection of impact investing and social equity and has written about the subject extensively.

Between 1995 and 2001 Pease served as the first executive director of the Gill Foundation, playing a pivotal role in bringing about one of the most significant social changes in Colorado and across the nation — the transformation of the position of and attitudes toward LGBTQ people. Under her leadership, the Gill Foundation staff increased from one to 42 and its budget from $1 million to $18 million.

As principal of KP Advisors since 2001, she has advised a wide range of organizations – from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to the Colorado Association of Funders – about their strategies and organizational infrastructures. Recently she has worked with foundations, nonprofits, and public sector agencies that are committed to developing innovative strategies for financing projects in low-income communities using impact investing, traditional finance, and philanthropy.

The Livesay Award was named in honor of retired Professor of Sociology Jeff Livesay, founder of the Public Interest Fellowship Program.