About

Kate Fitzsimmons

My love of language began as a child listening to my dad spin a fantastic tale about a magic golden fish…

When caught, this fish revealed himself to be not a fish at all but an enchanted prince. The stunned fisherman faced a dilemma. Believe a talking fish, or let his dinner go and face his wife’s ire. I was hooked.

I listened intently as that tale revealed the delights of magic, the infinite possibilities inherent in choice and the consequences of overpowering greed. That was a lot to pack into a bedtime story –a cautionary tale that has served me well ever since.

I graduated from fairy tales to short stories, novels, plays and poetry. Stories all. A good story can transport us to other places and times. We use them today to help others understand who we are and where we come from.

This led me to my pursuit of a BA. My degree opened doors to all kinds of writing opportunities. Book reviews, author interviews, journalism and travel pieces.

Whether I was talking to an author about a novel, finding out why someone was entering politics for the first time, or discovering the customs of an unfamiliar county, the one thread that kept me writing and ran through everything was storytelling.

Before establishing Fitzsimmons Communications in 2003, I worked in small businesses, corporations and non-profit organizations. I served as development director for two nonprofits, one with a budget of 3 million dollars.

I also loved working as a contributing editor to The San Francisco Review of Books and Maiden Voyages magazines. My freelance journalism and photography have appeared in local and national publications.

My work with nonprofits keeps me feeling deeply connected to my community, as I continually learn about the incredible, life changing work done by dedicated people, often in difficult circumstances. When I help nonprofits to raise money to do the hard work – I feel part of the good in the world that makes life worth living.

As a life-long learner, I am still captivated by stories and discovering what motivates people. That is why, early in my career, I loved interviewing authors like Alice Walker, John Updike and Joyce Carol Oats as we discussed, not only the motivation of their characters, but the motivation of the authors themselves.

Now, I work with individuals, businesses and nonprofits to discover what motivates them and makes them stand out from the crowd. Together, we develop strong brand statements that ignite meaningful connections through their stories.

I will be forever grateful to my dad for his endlessly entertaining, and by turns, dark and joyful stories, that ignited my passion for language.

TEAM

My appreciation of team projects began many years ago when Marilyn K. Segal and I wrote a grant for the Marin Rape Crisis Center that sealed its reputation as a statewide model in its field. To this day, I welcome opportunities to collaborate on projects that require a range of specific talents, some outside my realm of expertise. Over the years, I’ve relied on the extensive leadership experience and strategic focus Marilyn possesses. Our professional paths have crossed at auspicious moments in my career, and I’ve consistently benefited from her coaching and counsel. We continue to partner on projects when our combined, complementary skills are seen as valuable assets to best serve nonprofits, businesses, and individuals.

Marilyn Segal

My extensive experiences as an executive director shaped me to be a visionary thinker, successful collaborator, and inspirational leader. My background as a former attorney trained me to be a passionate advocate, skillful mediator, and focused problem-solver. This combination of training and experience informs my consulting practice as a coach, trainer, and strategist helping a broad range of organizations maximize the social impact of their respective missions to improve quality of life and change lives.

Are you a new Executive Director, either promoted from within or new to the organization? Are you comfortable with your role? Is your job description current and reflective of your responsibilities? Has there been staff turnover and a new organizational structure is needed? Do you feel that your role is clearly differentiated from the Chair and board members or is the focus routinely on management issues? Do you and the Board Chair work in partnership or do you feel micromanaged? Does the budget sufficiently support operating expenses?

As a board member, new or serving for some time, do you know the full range of your governance responsibilities—legal, fiscal, oversight? Are there clear expectations about your fundraising role? Does your board composition reflect your community and fulfill the range of duties for board members? Do you have a committee structure where the work of the board is divided? Are your board meetings a recitation of reports where the Executive Director does most of the talking or strategic with a consent agenda and engaging items for discussion that advance the mission of the organization?

These are the questions my consulting practice is devoted to addressing and resolving.

My specialties include executive coaching that diversifies leadership skills to strengthen management as well as customized governance trainings that reflect best practices and foster organizational accountability. The best results unfold when I work concurrently with executive directors and boards to ensure clarity of respective roles and responsibilities, which is critically vital in ensuring a strong partnership. I advise about developing and implementing capacity-building strategies that optimize organizational performance and promote sustainability. Without exception, I inspire a steadfast focus on aligning mission, values, and goals to enhance brand identity and public awareness.

My consulting reflects over three decades of hands-on experience, during which time I have:

Served multiple tenures as an executive director, successfully restructuring organizations in transition, increasing capacity, and promoting sustainability.
Designed and implemented a transparent, streamlined grant-making program at a local foundation, which promoted and funded collaboration between nonprofits to consolidate resources and maximize impact.
Cultivated successful cross-sector partnerships with mutual beneficial value as a vital and reliable funding base in support of measurable long-term solutions.

At heart, I am a mission-driven professional inspired by a strong sense of giving back to community. I am committed to continuing my work with nonprofit and business clients to change lives and improve quality of life in both the workplace and community.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marilyn-k-segal/

Testimonials

What They’re Saying About Fitzsimmons Communications

Olivia Fé

Executive Director, Latina Breast Cancer Agency

Grantwriting

“It is a pleasure to work with someone who shares a passion for our mission and is so skilled at telling our story. We are a small, effective organization and Kate really gets that across to funders in our proposals. She’s like a member of our team.”

Bill Kort

Investor/Blogger/Speaker on The Media & The Market

Freelance

As someone relatively new to the world of blogging, I was looking for a professional to give me a quick critique of my posts. Kate came through as a strategist and an editor. She’s been a great coach. Her tips on how to utilize social media channels are spot on.

Marc Apple

In-Bound Marketing Specialist

Business

“One of the best things about working with Kate is her ability to take a subject and craft a piece of content that not only reflects the client’s point of view, but their voice. Kate’s copy is written to cut through the clutter and I can always be sure my clients will receive a return on their investment when she’s written the content.”