10/08/2026
Meet Katrina
Like the books Katrina loves to read, her life is marked by many distinct chapters, but always tied together by an insatiable curiosity to find the next new adventure. She was born and raised in the wilds of Alaska and spent a year living with a host family in Germany before studying International Relations as an undergraduate. While in school, Katrina spent a semester in Israel and a semester in China, where she returned after graduation to teach at a university. Katrina later did a stint at Duke University in the MSc of Global Health program, studied as an EMT, and most recently obtained her license as a Physical Therapist Assistant at North Idaho College. It was through that last endeavor that Katrina discovered the nonprofit community makerspace Gizmo-CdA, where she now serves as Executive Director.
At Gizmo, Katrina is especially interested in helping people discover that they are capable of more than they realize. She is passionate about bringing people together around shared ideas and creating opportunities for people with different skills, experiences, and perspectives to learn from one another. For Katrina, leadership is less about having all the answers and more about asking great questions. She believes curiosity is contagious, experience is a powerful way to learn, and communities are better when people have places to experiment, create, and connect.
Her winding career path reflects a lifelong curiosity about people, places, how things work, and what makes communities thrive. In each chapter, Katrina has sought ways to make her community a little better—through education, getting more people on bicycles, creating opportunities for people to learn together, or simply making really good coffee. She is happiest when she is learning something new, trying something slightly wild, or helping someone else discover their next adventure.
