Fireside Chat with Katie Ford, MPP '01, Chief Marketing Officer, Bezos Academy
We invite HKS and all Harvard Alumni to join us for a presentation and discussion about how Bezos Academy is building a network of tuition free Montessori-inspired preschools in under-resourced communities. Hosted by HKS and HCS Seattle.
Join the Harvard Club of Seattle, in collaboration with the HKS Network of Seattle, for a special evening with Katie Ford (MPP ’01), Chief Marketing Officer of Bezos Academy. Katie will share her journey leading marketing, communications, and growth for a rapidly expanding nonprofit that is building a national network of tuition-free, Montessori-inspired preschools in under-resourced communities.
Drawing on her experience in Massachusetts politics, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Microsoft, Katie will reflect on how strategic communications and leadership can shape high-impact organizations and drive change at scale.
Who’s Invited:
• Harvard Alumni from the College and all the Graduate Schools
• Registration is limited to 25 HKS and Harvard Alumni and their guests
• We expect this event to sellout, so secure your place today
• Registration ends Wednesday, 10/29/2025, 23:59 PT
Fireside Chat with Katie Ford, MPP '01, Chief Marketing Officer, Bezos Academy
Education, Pre-School, and building the next generation
Thursday, October 30, 2025
5:00pm - 7:00pm PT
Downtown Bellevue Hotel
Exact location will be emailed 2 days prior to the event
Cost: $10
Proceeds help cover the cost of our events and support our community service programs, SCSF and CAP.
No-host cash bar
Everyone pays their own way
Registration is limited to 25 Harvard Alumni and their guests
Registration ends Wednesday, 10/29/2025, 23:59 PT
Host:
This event is hosted by the Harvard Club of Seattle in collaboration with the HKS Network of Seattle and is open to all Harvard alumni and their guests.
Space is limited to 25 alumni and their guests, so early registration is encouraged.
We look forward to seeing you at our event!
About Bezos Academy:
Bezos Academy aims to nurture the potential in every child to become a creative leader, original thinker, and lifelong learner by inventing the solutions to long-standing challenges in early childhood education.
Early childhood is a critical time for brain development. More than 50 years of research has proven that high-quality preschool has advantages for young children and their families.
All children deserve the great start that an excellent preschool provides.
• Reading - Children who attend high-quality preschool are more likely to read proficiently by third grade. Reading proficiency in third grade is one of the greatest predictors of high school graduation and college enrollment
• Skill Building - High-quality preschool has a lasting effect. Children see boosts in their academic, social, and emotional skills. The largest benefits exist among children facing the toughest challenges: multilingual learners, children with disabilities, and children living in poverty
• Positive Lifelong Outcomes - Preschool creates long-term positive effects on life outcomes, including high-school graduation, years of education completed, and increased lifetime earnings
• Family Benefits - Full-day preschool, when compared to half-day or part-time programs, yields more positive effects on student outcomes. For families, the benefits include more consistency and reliability.
About Katie Ford:
Katie Ford learned the craft of communications on the mean streets of Massachusetts politics and honed it into a precision instrument during her decade at a premier public relations agency. Then, as chief communications strategist and advisor to the CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, she spent 4 years furthering her mastery of one of today's most important communications channels: leadership voice. Today, Katie brings all her prior experience to bear in my role leading marketing, communications, growth, and enrollment for Bezos Academy, a fast-growing nonprofit operator of free preschools.
For Katie, avocation and vocation have always gone hand in hand. She loves what she does because so many of our big and small triumphs and tragedies rest on a foundation of communications. She is profoundly curious, and has learned some amazing lessons, both the easy and hard way.
Steering state cabinet officials through crises ranging from oil spills to criminal investigations to public safety emergencies taught her how to see around corners, but not get ahead of herself (or her boss). Working with Microsoft through a period of brand transformation, Katie learned how to construct a long story arc - and the communications plans that bring them to life - grounded in both products and leaders people can believe in. She also discovered the power of modern communications channels and measurement analytics.
As part of the senior leadership team of the world's largest foundation, strategizing and executing communications around global health, US poverty and education, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and the COVID-19 pandemic, Katie found her abilities to inspire, persuade and manage are as essential as the diverse communications skills I've developed over the last 20 years.
Working for high profile brands and leaders is filled with possibility, occasionally fraught with peril, and Katie walks in the door every morning excited for what’s next.
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Individual Membership price is $70.00.
https://hcseattle.clubs.harvard.edu/memsub.html
We look forward to seeing you at future events!