Kat Saunders is a Partner and Head of Strategy and Leadership for Economic Leadership, LLC, a consultancy currently working in more than a dozen states to develop economic and workforce strategies. She is also the current lead communications strategist for Howard Hughes Corporation, the country’s largest master-planned community developer. A specialist in economic development, talent attraction, and real estate, she advises clients on building effective marketing and communications programs to produce results that shift the perception and reputation of client communities while engaging stakeholders in the overall economic development process.

Prior to joining Economic Leadership, Kat was the Executive Vice President of Client Strategy for place marketing firm, Development Counsellors International, or DCI, based in New York City. There, she led the statewide economic development and talent attraction strategy for Florida Power & Light and the JAXUSA Partnership. She has previously worked with the Tampa Bay EDC, Orlando Economic Partnership, Enterprise Florida, and other rural economic developers throughout the state. Other previous clients include the Greater Houston Partnership, Research Triangle Regional Partnership, One Columbus, and Fairfax County Economic Development Authority in Northern Virginia.

She is a go-to counselor for crisis communications and an advisor on public sector and elected official communications. She previously worked at Hill & Knowlton where she managed corporate clients like Deloitte Real Estate, the Staubach Company and Nixon Peabody LLP, and before moving to New York City, was Director of Government Affairs at the Tampa affiliate of the National Association of Home Builders.

Kat is a graduate of Florida State University, where she studied public relations, business, and political science and was elected to the FSU Senior Hall of Fame. She lives in Westchester County, New York, with her husband, a commercial real estate broker at Jones Lang LaSalle, and her three children.