Director
Kathleen Gerdes is a seasoned executive with a passion for building trusted relationships and advancing mission-driven work. As Executive Director and Head of the Client Group at Harris Associates, she leads the firm’s client engagement strategy, overseeing distribution enablement, relationship management, and communications across institutional and intermediary channels. She also serves as Vice President of the Oakmark Funds.
Her career spans both the financial and nonprofit sectors, including nearly a decade at Atlantic Trust Stein Roe and earlier work in development at the Jane Addams Hull House Association. Kathleen’s dedication to equity and access is reflected in her board service with the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation, where she continues to contribute as a Sustaining Member of the Grants Committee.
She earned her B.A. from Oberlin College and her M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Kathleen and her family live in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. Her son George has been a joyful member of the Uniting Voices family for the past five years—an experience that has deepened her appreciation for the organization’s mission and impact.