Mandela Washington Fellowship Reciprocal Exchange

Kathryn Kutzner has over a decade of experience in international and local community development, focusing on women’s economic, environmental, and social empowerment. She is currently the sustainable development coordinator at Community Forklift in Maryland, one of the largest and most successful reuse centers for home improvement supplies in the United States. Her role is to help the organization expand its impact and partnerships with individuals, corporations, and foundations. She works to increase the quality and quantity of material donations that can be diverted from the waste stream and turned into community assets. Kathryn also helps to develop strategies and systems for fundraising, marketing, data management, and community outreach.

Prior to Community Forklift, Kathryn worked for over a decade at international nonprofits and has experience in fundraising, program management and design, grant writing, and monitoring and evaluation. From serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi to working with women and youth in rural Uganda, Kathryn developed a strong passion for women’s empowerment and environmental sustainability in under-resourced areas. Kathryn has an M.A. degree in international development from the University of Denver as well as a B.S. degree in business administration.

In 2017, she participated in the Mandela Washington Fellowship Reciprocal Exchange in Malawi, working with Mandela Washington Fellowship alumni on promoting women's legal rights and preventing gender-based violence. In 2020, Kathryn was awarded the Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund grant and traveled to Malawi to train 40 rural women farmers in beekeeping, entrepreneurship, and environmental sustainability.