Kate Bender, Co-Founder

Kate Bender is dedicated to helping cities use data-driven analysis and storytelling to understand their processes and better serve the community. For 15 years, she worked for the city of Kansas City, Missouri, beginning as a Cookingham-Noll Fellow, followed by Co-Lead for DataKC and most recently as Chief Analytics Officer.

As Co-Lead for the DataKC team, Kate designed and managed the City’s KCStat public performance management system. She oversaw administration of the City’s resident and business surveys and worked to integrate them into the City’s strategic planning efforts. Kate launched a new home page for Open Data KC and oversaw the City’s data storytelling efforts across multiple platforms. She developed and delivered the Data Academy training program to city employees and community partners, including a module for managers.

Kate earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Brown University and a Master of Urban Planning degree from the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University. She was a member of the 2013 class of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Centurions Leadership Program and the 2020 class for the Greater Missouri Leadership Challenge. She was a participant in the inaugural Bloomberg-Harvard City Leadership Initiative in 2017-2018 and a recipient of the inaugural American Society of Public Administrators Emerging Leaders award.