Kate Clark, MPA

Kate Clark, MPA is Chief of Staff & Partnerships at The Kennedy Forum. Founded by former congressman Patrick Kennedy in 2013, the organization unites advocates, business leaders, health plans and government agencies to transform the way mental health and substance use are treated in our health care system.

Previously, Kate was Director of Strategic Initiatives for Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions (CNHP), where she led the development and implementation of strategies that advanced new initiatives and best practices that aligned with the goals of the College and helped to integrate those projects into current efforts. She also worked to expand existing community-based partnerships and cultivate new relationships, especially with local and regional organizations, health providers and foundations, and lef internal capacity building initiatives, such as helping to launch the College’s new AgeWell Collaboratory.

Prior to Drexel she served as assistant director for the Center for Population Health Innovation at Jefferson, where she worked with external organizations to build their capacity to address health disparities and manage chronic conditions.

From 2008-2017 she was planner for Policy and Program Development at Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA) where she worked to develop two nationally award-winning and replicated programs. Age-friendly Philadelphia catalyzes new initiatives, policies and multi-disciplinary collaborations that help our neighborhoods become better places to grow up and grow old. Areas of impact include parks, housing, mobility and community gardening. GenPhilly (Generation Appreciation Philadelphia) is a network of over 500 emerging leaders from a variety of disciplines who are advocating for the interests of older adults, while thinking about the type of city in which they themselves want to age. For this work she was awarded a 2018 Healthy Communities Innovator award by the Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal.

From 2013-14 Kate completed a Hartford/Atlantic Philanthropies Health and Aging Policy Fellowship advising the Surgeon General of the United States on healthy aging issues related to the Affordable Care Act’s National Prevention Strategy. Kate serves on a variety of advisory boards and is also vice president of one of Philadelphia’s oldest foundations, the Union Benevolent Association.

Prior to moving to Philadelphia, she initiated and managed the City of Syracuse’s first public art program; directed the City of New York’s Historical Signs Program; and conducted research as a Fulbright Scholar on public-private partnerships and public space management. She speaks Spanish fluently and has a Masters of Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a Bachelors of Art in Geography and Archaeology from Clark University.