Who I Am
I’m a cross-disciplinary social change leader who identifies, illuminates, provokes, and orchestrates new ways forward that center what matters to people, rather than what’s the matter with them.
I’m deeply curious about how as a species we have moments of intense kindness and glory, and also moments of appalling cruelty. I try to do my part to make the former a bit more likely. Some days are better than others for this.
A core of my current work is WellLeaving, a five-year initiative to build the awareness, language, and early infrastructure necessary for institutions leaving communities well to be a moral and practical imperative. I’m so lucky to do this in community and through a Senior Fellow perch at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University.
I’m a mom, spouse, friend, and the person to cats, dogs, cows, sheep, and donkeys. And a garlic farmer, too. We all contain multitudes — mine include loving my Carhartts and my three-inch heels.
Introductory video: bit.ly/KSmyth CV: bit.ly/KSmythCV
LinkedIn: linkedin/in/katyafelssmyth/
What Leads Me Here
I have spent over 30 years challenging assumptions and structures underlying American systems — including that scale and perpetuity are inherently valuable — and leading organizations and alliances that offer a new way forward. The throughline in my career and affiliations is a deep belief in the power of community and connection, and an equally strong belief that systems have been set up to erode wellbeing for many in our country, while enabling it for others.
In 1995, I founded On The Rise, a community by and of women pushed to the margins. In 2009, I founded the Full Frame Initiative (FFI), a national social change organization partnering with communities and government entities to advance wellbeing equity through power- and resource-shifting.
Together with community and government leaders, I have forged durable impact in fields including community development, human services, planning, justice, and climate. This takes the form of multi-state policy reforms, shifted government-community relations and funding ($750M+), and widespread attitudinal shifts to address ostracism and othering. I seed and mobilize boundary-spanning coalitions; develop rigorous frameworks grounded in science and validated by lived experience; and translate big ideas into durable, accountable implementation. The New York Times has featured my work.
In 2024, FFI initiated a transition of its mission to a national network of leaders, a process profiled in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. This experience challenged widely held assumptions (including my own) about nonprofit closure. It deepened my sense that our collective treatment of endings as radioactive leads to community harms and lost potential.
I have an AB in evolutionary biology from Harvard, and an honorary doctorate of divinity from the Episcopal Divinity School. I’m a former Echoing Green Fellow, Social Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Clark University, MIT CoLab Affiliate, and Harvard Research Fellow.