Katie Bouton

Guided by the belief that “The Right Person in the Right Place Can Change the World,” Katie founded Koya Partners in 2004 to recruit exceptionally talented leaders to mission-driven organizations.

Koya Partners has been recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms for three consecutive years and by Hunt Scanlon Media as one of the top 50 fastest growing executive search firms. In 2019, Koya joined forces with Diversified Search. Both firms have been founded and led by women and have long track records of building diversity and equity internally and through their placements. Katie continues to serve as Koya’s Founder & CEO and has also assumed the role of Senior Advisor, Diversified Search Group.

With over 20 years of experience in executive search and organizational development, Katie has built senior leadership teams at leading national and international organizations and partners closely with founders, boards, and donors to deepen the impact of today’s most pioneering mission-driven organizations.

In addition to executive search, Katie’s areas of focus include leadership development, recruitment and retention best practices, company culture, purpose driven organizations, and diversity initiatives.

Katie’s thought leadership has been widely quoted and published in leading publications such as Harvard Business Review, BoardMember.com, and Nonprofit Hub. She was featured by the Boston Business Journal as an Emerging Leader for her success as founder and CEO of Koya and was named a Boston Brava Award Winner by SmartCEO, which recognizes high-impact women business leaders. In 2018, Katie was named to the Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame at the University of New Hampshire and was a finalist for EY’s prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year® New England program. During the Obama administration, Katie was invited to the White House to attend the United States of Women Summit focused on key gender equality issues.

Katie began her career in the public sector as a human resources generalist at the Institute for Teaching and Research on Women and the Women’s Law Center of Maryland. She then moved to the private sector, working as a human resources manager at Edelman Public Relations and ChildrenFirst.

With a strong commitment to civic and women’s leadership, Katie serves on numerous boards. She is Chair of the Board of IGNITE, the bipartisan initiative committed to building the next generation of female political leaders. Katie also sits on the boards of The Home for Little Wanderers and her alma mater, the College of Liberal Arts at the University of New Hampshire, and serves as a corporator of the Newburyport Bank.

Katie is a Fellow at Pipeline Angels, a network of new and seasoned women investors that is changing the face of angel investing and creating capital for women social entrepreneurs. She is also a member of the Massachusetts Women’s Forum, a community of top women leaders from all sectors of society.

Education

Katie holds an MS in Human Resource Development from Towson University and earned her BA in English, Journalism, and Women’s Studies from the University of New Hampshire.