Katie Stearns

Katie Stearns is the chief program and impact officer at Points of Light, leading the programs that bring the organization’s mission to life and measuring our impact around the world. Her focus is building the effectiveness and capacity of NGOs and their leaders, advancing corporate social impact and driving sector-leading research and convenings. She oversees the Global Network, the Points of Light Conference, The Civic 50, the Corporate Service Council, corporate activation and consulting and the Daily Point of Light Award.

Helping companies and nonprofits do good well and connecting individuals to meaningful civic engagement has been the driving force of Katie’s work over the last 23 years. Most recently, she served at Points of Light’s chief global corporate solutions officer, leading the teams responsible for large-scale employee volunteer programs, the Corporate Service Council, Civic 50, and corporate research, insights, and advisory support.

Working at the intersection of the nonprofit and corporate sectors has given Katie the opportunity to partner with hundreds of Fortune 500 companies and nonprofits to translate social impact and employee engagement goals into meaningful, inclusive community change.

Katie started her career at Points of Light Global Network affiliate Chicago Cares, where she led fundraising, marketing and large-scale volunteer events and grew the size and scope of the corporate volunteer program by more than 500%. She subsequently served in multiple leadership roles at Points of Light before building corporate and community partnerships that enabled iMentor’s expansion to Chicago. Before returning to Points of Light in 2022, she served as chief partnerships officer at Common Impact, a nationally recognized nonprofit that designs and scales skills-based volunteer programs for companies.