Katy O’Leary is joining Hartford Seminary as Director of Executive and Professional Education. She will guide, develop, and grow programs responding to a growing demand for interreligious understanding to support organizations’ religiously diverse workforces, clients, patients, and students.

Previously Katy led a Dementia Friendly America Community Initiative in Southington, CT, for LiveWell (formerly the Alzheimer’s Resource Center). The Dementia Friendly movement is meant to educate people about Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, dispel the stigma associated with the disease and foster public understanding. In her role, Katy recruited and led a team of community stakeholders. Together they worked to make hundreds of “Dementia Friends,” engaged businesses and organizations as Community Partners, and developed an online education program.

Katy sees her role at the Seminary as a wonderful continuation of what she loved about leading the Dementia Friendly Initiative. Both are about raising awareness through education and training to create environments where individuals can show up as their full selves.

Katy is happy to be back in Hartford having spent many years at Leadership Greater Hartford (LGH). As a member of the senior management team, she focused on building relationships with key stakeholders and developing new business. Katy has a strong appreciation for Greater Hartford’s assets, challenges, and rich diversity. As a long-time and active member of Hartford’s Asylum Hill Congregational Church, she is deeply committed to our capital city’s success.

Originally from Wisconsin, Katy earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She and her husband, Jim Bannister, live in West Hartford and have two young adult sons and a dear dog.