---
title: Katie Barkley, Owner/Director of Innovation - Milepost
description: Katie Barkley is a strategic thinker, empathetic leader, and thoughtful communicator committed to human and environmental flourishing.
image: https://engagemilepost.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Team%20Profiles/Katie/Katie-profile.jpg?width=1999&quality=high
---

# Katie Barkley

##### OWNER / DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION

A builder of organizations, programs, teams, and products and services, **Katie Barkley **leverages director-level operations and innovation expertise with “better practice” business transformation, product management, and cross-functional leadership. Katie is a strategic thinker, empathetic leader, and thoughtful communicator committed to human and environmental flourishing. For the last decade, she has combined her entrepreneurial mindset and background in strategic communications, innovative brand management, and organizational leadership to build innovative organizations that drive social progress.

Katie’s core strengths lie in identifying systemic leverage points, developing scalable frameworks, and mobilizing diverse teams to drive measurable business outcomes. She holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Calvin University and is currently pursuing an Executive MBA at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan to complement a decade of organizational leadership experience. She resides in West Michigan with her spouse and their energetic pup.

[mailto:katieb@engagemilepost.com](mailto:katieb@engagemilepost.com)<https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiebarkley/>

![Katie Barkley headshot](https://22610081.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hub/22610081/hubfs/Team%20Profiles/Katie/11-21-25%20EMBA%20head%20shots%20-%20Katie%20Barkley%2018%20copy_pp.jpg?width=300&name=11-21-25%20EMBA%20head%20shots%20-%20Katie%20Barkley%2018%20copy_pp.jpg)

## Core competencies

- Strategic planning
- Meeting facilitation
- Behavior change
- Program focus selection and goal setting
- Engagement strategy
- Community-Based Social Marketing
- Energy education for kids
- Program naming

- Program branding
- Multi-channel marketing strategy
- Communications strategy and planning
- Messaging strategy
- Storytelling
- Marketing writing
- Creative strategy
- Team development and coaching

### Likes

 XC skiing  
Traveling  
Dive bars  
Thrift shops  
Mountain biking

### Dislikes

 Traffic jams  
Olives  
Talking during a movie  
Gender stereotypes  
The sound of chewing

### Little-known fact

I hiked the ancient pilgrimage, El Camino de Santiago, in Spain in 2018.

[Back to full team](https://engagemilepost.com/../who-we-are/#meet-the-team)

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