Katya Fels Smyth
My favorite kind of project is…
Where there's no roadmap.
I love working with:
People who are wickedly smart, wickedly funny and hellbent on actually doing something important. Sticky, messy situations that need systemic approaches.
Here I am backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas for my 50th (whew-- that turned into quite a story!)... finally not feeling altitude sickness.
My fave ways to find joy + ease:
Animals. Animals. Animals. And special people and nature.
Why Helia loves Katya:
We were introduced to Katya while she was sunsetting FFI as part of her starting to think about sharing the story and it was one of my MOST favorite conversations. Katya clearly is a doer who gets her hands in to make things happen - and is a leader who is constantly considering the why and what it all means and, most importantly, how are we doing the work and showing up in a way that is respectful and powerful and human, even when it looks completely different than anything you’ve ever seen before.
Just to show I can clean up ok, here I am introducing WIATT -- a tool I led the creation of that puts wellbeing equity at the heart of infrastructure investments ;
Work with me!
If you're not thinking about the importance of endings with integrity as essential to progress, and about the connection between power shifting and good endings, I'd love to crack something open for you and your field. Speaking and writing are my 2025 priorities, but let me know if something else occurs to you. I can be reached at Katya@fullframeinitiative.org; you can find out more about me on LinkedIn. And, for now I'm posting about endings there and on my medium page.
Here I am with the amazing FFI closing team at our final staff retreat at my farm (cameo by Tillie the donkey!)
Check out my Library Contributions!
