Kate has combined her analytic perspective with a passion for helping clients feel safe and confident in their financial decisions for nearly 30 years. She founded North Berkeley Wealth Management in 2005 with the belief that a good plan, centered on a person’s unique needs, can guide clients towards their envisioned future and remove the anxiety around financial decisions.
She is a leader at the firm on several fronts – as an advisor to clients, as a mentor to the advisory group, and as the spearhead of business development and community engagement. Her efforts have built a multi-generational team that provides client-centered financial planning and investment management that focuses on sustainable decision-making for our clients, our team, and our community.
Kate’s commitment to her profession has deep roots with experience in several capacities within the financial services industry. From 1994 through 2001, she served as CFO and President at Protected Investors of America, a regional, independent broker-dealer based in San Francisco. Along with serving clients, she has also been active in financial regulation and best practices. She has served on both the FINRA District Committee and the national FINRA Small Firms Advisory Board, served on industry disciplinary hearing panels, and is a San Francisco Financial Planning Association member.
Community building and engagement are cornerstones of Kate’s worldview. She has worked with many local nonprofit organizations, helping them with strategy and ongoing business consulting that helps align their investment policy with their mission. Her community work inspires the firm’s practice, placing giving and community engagement as a central tenet of our activities.
Kate was the founding board chair and continues to serve on the Board at Berkeley Food Network (BFN), whose mission is to eliminate food insecurity in Berkeley. BFN was well positioned at the outbreak of the pandemic to address the dramatic increase in need and provides a hub for collaboration for all Berkeley agencies addressing food security, and acts as a leader in the redistribution of prepared food to eliminate food waste. She also served on the Solano Avenue Business Improvement District Commission (a City of Berkeley Commission) and was the founding chair of Skate XP, a Berkeley nonprofit that builds community through support for skateboarders and skateboarding resources.
Kate grew up in Lafayette and now lives in North Berkeley with her family. For fun, she sails on the San Francisco Bay and plays duplicate bridge.
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Education, Certifications, & Affiliations
- CFP® (CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™) certification
- B.A. in Chinese Language and Culture, Dartmouth College
- M.A. in Cultural Anthropology, UC Berkeley
- Treasurer, Berkeley Food Network
- Member, Financial Planning Association (FPA)
The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards owns the certification marks CFP® and Certified Financial Planner™ in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete the CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
More About Kate
Outside of work, I love to cook – particularly trying new dishes that cross cultures and combine new flavors. Yotam Ottolenghi has been a wonderful inspiration, and with every new dish I make, I get more comfortable improvising with whatever ingredients I have on hand.
My favorite part of being an advisor is the way our clients are so open and share the fabric of their lives with us. I am motivated to make their life better – not just to offer a technical solution to a financial question.
The best advice I ever received was to ask questions instead of giving answers. Ultimately, you can guide people to the right answer for them by asking questions – because I know the questions, and they know the answers. Many people seek our help because they don’t know the right questions to ask, so that’s a way we can create clarity and confidence.
Articles by Kate
The Challenges of Powering AI Infrastructure
The exciting potential growth of artificial intelligence and hyperscale computing capability should account for the logistical and environmental challenges of expanding infrastructure to handle the dramatic increase in energy demanded by powerful chips.
Measuring What Matters
Measurement has historically been a catalyst for innovation, and companies concerned with environmental impact know that while measurable change is incremental, progress made is real.
The Coming Smorgasbord of Climate Disclosure
Over the past two decades, national commitments at global climate conferences and an array of new regulations have pushed companies to measure and publicly share information about the environmental impact of their operations.