Fairmont Olympic Hotel

Dr. Doreen Cato — As an international advocate for children’s rights, Dr. Cato has served 13 years as Executive Director at First Place, a school and social service agency for homeless and vulnerable children and families in Seattle. with 30 years of community volunteer work, Dr. Cato is also a member of the Minority Executive Directors Coalition; the League of Women Voters, the Cultural Reconnection Missions; Seattle University Visiting Committee for the Masters for Nonprofit Leadership, Stand for Children, Children’s Alliance Public Policy Committee; co-chair of Odessa Brown Clinic Advisory Council and co-chair of the Seattle Rotary Downtown Club’s Youth, Schools, and Early Learning Committee. Dr. Cato has been involved in the field of education for more than 35 years. She has served as a teacher with the Detroit and Inkster school districts; on core faculty at Leadership Institute of Seattle City University’s Masters Program; as Adjunct Faculty at Western Washington University’s Human Services Program and currently AS Associate Faculty at Antioch University Seattle. Dr. Cato’s passion to work with children and youth extends beyond the United States to Africa. Her work with Cultural Reconnection Mission and African American Kenyan Women Interconnect takes her to the schools in rural areas of Kenya and Ethiopia.