Her team has established a track record of transforming early-stage operational challenges into sustainable competitive advantages, enabling founding teams to focus on growth and strategic initiatives while their operational infrastructure scales alongside them.Drawing from her educational background in psychology and human development from North Carolina State University, along with insights gleaned from her varied professional experience across public, private, and non-profit sectors, Cat’s approach to operational design prioritizes both systematic efficiency and human dynamics.
Cat began her career with the US Army Research Office, coordinating local and nationwide STEM education outreach programs sponsored by the Department of Defense to mentor and support students in pursuing STEM careers. This foundational experience in large-scale program coordination, enhanced by her subsequent work with the USO of North Carolina and the NC Army National Guard’s recruit sustainment program, amplified Cat’s zeal for operations management and project coordination. This was further amplified during her six-year tenure at Boldly, a premium business staffing firm, where she worked with high-stakes clients from diverse industries, managed core business operations and onboarding for new hires, and led a large cross-functional team of skilled business support professionals. It was at Boldly that Cat first discovered her passion for the startup ecosystem, but it is at Mechanism Ventures where she has found her dream job, utilizing her experience to support both her team and our portfolio companies in translating strategic vision into operational reality.
