Katie Fitzgerald, a proven nonprofit executive and child advocacy leader, joins Make-A-Wish Oklahoma as President and CEO. In addition to managing the operations of the organization, Fitzgerald will work closely with supporters all over the state to promote and expand the Make-A-Wish mission of “granting wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.”
“We are excited to have Katie join the Make-A-Wish organization. Her steadfast commitment to serving children throughout her twenty year career in non-profit and foundation management is a perfect match for our Chapter. With Katie’s proven leadership abilities, we look forward to advancing our most important goal which is to reach all the children in Oklahoma in need of a quality wish experience,” said Angie Hooper, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Make-A-Wish Oklahoma and Senior Counsel for The Williams Companies, Inc.
Fitzgerald’s resume includes extensive experience in the fields of child advocacy, child and family services and fund development. She joins Make-A-Wish following a six-year tenure as Executive Director at the Center for Children and Families in Norman, Oklahoma where she led the largest expansion in operating and capital revenue in the agency’s history along with a related expansion in child and family services. Fitzgerald has also served as Director for the Women’s Leadership Initiative at the University of Oklahoma and led the Oklahoma Afterschool Network at the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy. Before moving to Oklahoma, Katie served as Program Director with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan and as a Vice President with United Way of Greater Battle Creek. Katie earned her Masters of Social Work from the University of Michigan and her undergraduate degree at Michigan State University.
“I am tremendously honored and excited to serve as the next leader of Make-A-Wish Oklahoma. As a parent of three children, I cannot imagine the challenges our wish kids and families bravely face every day. It is a privilege to have this opportunity to steward this most sacred mission of bringing hope, strength and joy to the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Make-A-Wish has a great reputation and I look forward to serving our wish kids and their families, along with the Board of Directors, donors and our many volunteers all over Oklahoma.”
Fitzgerald and her husband, Brad Stevenson, live in Norman with their three children, Georgia, Lazo and Gloria.
