Kathe Schaaf is one of the original co-founders of Gather the Women and has served in the core leadership circle of that growing global community for the past five years. 

She weaves together her years of experience as a teacher and writer, as a non-profit director and a psychotherapist, as a mother and a community organizer with her passion about the value of women to the world. Kathe speaks from her heart with authentic power... and her passion is contagious.

In 2004, Kathe was inspired by the vision of 6 Gather the Women Congresses on 6 Continents as a way to connect the wisdom of the world's women into new constellations of hope. She has been both a container and a catalyst helping that vision to manifest as a powerful reality, with the first three Congresses held in 2006 in Canada, Kenya and Australia. 

In 2007, Kathe launched a new exploration into authentic balanced leadership, Gender and Power at the Edge of the New Frontier. She has anchored a series of challenging conversations bringing men and women together to transmute some of the hidden barriers to true collaboration.

Kathe is the author of Some Things I Know to be True, the first of a narrative poem series published in 2006 in a unique artistic collaboration with mandala artist Charlotte Backman. Kathe is currently completing the remainder of that collection of six poetry books, and plans a collection of autobiographical essays which will include stories of her amazing conversations with women around the world.

Kathe is currently anchoring several exciting collaborative conversations. In addition to facilitating workshops, she offers her expertise as a catalyst to individuals and diverse organizations seeking new models of authentic leadership.

Education

• B.S. University of Wisconsin - Madison (1974)
     Secondary Education/ English
• M.A. Antioch University - Los Angeles (1992)
      Clinical Psychology

License

• Marriage and Family Therapist -California (1996 - present)

• Teacher - English, Drama
     Edgerton High School, Wisconsin (1974-1979)
• Executive Director -Postive Youth Development
     Madison, Wisconsin (1980-1986)
• Consultant
     Organizational and Leadership Development (1985 - present)
• Field Director - California Special Olympics
     Santa Monica, California (1988 - 1989)
• Marriage and Family Therapist
     Private practice (1990 - 2005)
• Co-Founder/ President/ Leadership Core - Gather the Women
     (2002 - 2007)

• Now That You’ve Begun: A Guide to Keeping Your Community Group Going
  Wisconsin Positive Youth Development Initiative, Inc. (1984)
  
  
• Intergenerational Programs: A Resource for Community Renewal
  Wisconsin Positive Youth Development Initiative, Inc. (1985)
  
  
• The Status of Wisconsin’s Children: Recent Trends in Resources and Child Well-Being
  Consulting Editor; Wisconsin Bureau of Children, Youth and Families (1987)
  
  
• Preparing Your Community: A Guide to Community Action Planning
  With Teresa Hogue; Oregon Community Children and Youth Services Commission
  
  
• Youth Participation in the Juvenile Justice System and Beyond: A Reality Check
  Future Choices; Youth Policy Institute (1991)
  
  
• Contributing Writer: GoOff.com (2002)
  
  
• Contributing Writer: Spheres (2005-2007)
  
  
• Some Things I Know to be True (2005)

"Kathe Schaaf is a natural leader -- warm, direct, smart as can be, and absolutely unassuming -- a gifted listener. Her passion for transformative activism runs so deep she almost crackles with it"

Carol Lee Flinders, Author,
At the Root of this Longing: Reconciling a Spiritual Hunger and a Feminist Thirst ...

POEM FRAGMENTS
by Kathe

From “Some Things I know to be True”  2005

We must understand this:
There will be conversations.

There will be many conversations.
There will be resonant conversations, fully wired with joy and recognition, and there will be challenging conversations.
There will be times when fear jumps into the electrical flow and shorts out the entire system for a moment.

I know this to be true:
It is all about the conversation.