Kate Van Name is a strategist, storyteller, and organizational leader with a career that bridges corporate, nonprofit, entrepreneurial, and civic spheres. She brings a rare ability to move seamlessly between financial rigor and human narrative — helping clients sharpen their numbers, strengthen their operations, and tell stories that inspire change.

Before joining Rivers & Roads, Kate served as Executive Director of Kent Attainable Housing, walking alongside families on their journey to first-time homeownership in rural Maryland. She also founded KVN Partners, a small-business consultancy that supported rural entrepreneurs in refining strategy, building talent pipelines, and connecting with investors. Her work was always rooted in one priority: creating economic vitality while keeping community at the center.

Kate’s leadership extends nationally as well. At Warrior Centric Health, she served as Chief Operating Officer and Board Member, designing and scaling one of the first comprehensive health equity solutions addressing the Veteran health crisis. From building a subscription-based business model for hospitals to architecting cultural competency curricula and hospital accreditation pathways, she helped embed Veteran care equity into some of the nation’s largest healthcare systems. It remains one of the most complex and impactful projects of her career — proof of her ability to align strategy, equity, and execution for systemic change.

Her career also spans senior roles in finance, operations, marketing, and strategy for firms including Prometric, Caloris Engineering, Advisors Financial, and The Communicators, Inc. She has guided organizations through growth, change, and transformation, while developing signature frameworks such as The Kinetic Tide™, The Wellth Cycle™, The Daily Good Index™, and The Currents of Connection™ — each designed to help leaders make sense of complexity and spark lasting action.

At Rivers & Roads Consulting, Kate focuses on nonprofit capacity building, governance, workforce and talent development, and economic and community vitality. She is known for helping leaders and organizations step fully into their vision, build trust across stakeholders, and design strategies that ripple far beyond the boardroom.