Katherine Fulton has spent her life deliberately confronting social change —learning from the past, adapting to the present, and scouting the future. In her diverse roles as a journalist, teacher, organizational leader, trusted advisor, and civic volunteer, she aspires to be a change agent who enlarges the possibilities that groups and leaders embrace while grounding action in rigor and reality.

In recent years, Katherine has become well-known as an expert on the rapidly shifting terrain of philanthropy and impact investing. She has worked closely with many of the early 21st century’s generation’s leading philanthropists, major foundations and rising social entrepreneurs, always aiming for greater clarity and foresight aligned with creativity and courage. She has also authored many publications on the future of philanthropy, served on numerous governing boards and given dozens of major speeches, including at Long Now and at TED.

Katherine’s work draws upon her own life experiences of change, healing, and transformation. A native Virginian, she learned the importance of philanthropy and community service through the example of her family’s leadership. After graduating from Harvard with a degree in history and literature, Katherine began her career back in the South, where she covered politics for a major daily newspaper. Later she co-founded The North Carolina Independent, an award-winning investigative newspaper, which won her both a foundation prize for community service and a year of study as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard. After leaving journalism in the early 01990s, she taught at Duke University before moving to California to work side-by-side with leaders at Global Business Network (GBN). There she learned from world-class futurists, mastered the scenario planning toolkit and focused on provoking journalistic institutions to adapt to the rapidly shifting technological context. As GBN merged twice (into Monitor Group and then Deloitte Consulting), Katherine spent more than a decade building a leading social sector consulting practice as president of Monitor Institute. This innovative social enterprise, hosted and supported by the parent firms, applies world-class consulting tools, hard-won knowledge and talent to major social and environmental challenges.

Katherine lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her long-time spouse, Katharine Kunst, where they have put down roots in the wine country. While co-chairing Long Now and helping lead its generational transition, she founded an innovative local philanthropy fund in the pandemic that continues to pioneer new ways for donors to join together to do what they cannot do alone. In a new and perilous time, she is devoted to working with leaders across generations to plant the seeds of a better long-term future while reducing suffering today.