Kate Nielsen is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. She joined the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham as its first Development Officer in 1995 and has been its President since 2000.

During her time at the Community Foundation, the assets of its endowment have grown from $38 million to more than $143 million (year-end 2009), including about one-third held in Community Funds. These unrestricted dollars serve the community's greatest needs and provide the seed money for transformative initiatives such as:

•  Strengthening Birmingham City Schools through the grassroots initiative Yes We Can! Birmingham, now part of the Birmingham Education Foundation

•  Encouraging the creation of additional open space for our community’s citizens through the Three Parks Initiative

•  Advocating for the importance of early learning for our community’s children through the creation of the statewide advocacy group, the Alabama School Readiness Alliance

Well-known as a high-impact grantmaker, convener and catalyst for change, the Community Foundation also serves hundreds of individuals, families and corporations as a trusted philanthropic advisor, encouraging partnerships to make life better through more than 350 grantmaking funds.

Within the community foundation field, Nielsen has provided leadership that made the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham among the first to be certified in compliance with national standards. She also served on the Community Foundations Leadership Team of the Council on Foundations, an international membership association that promotes responsible and effective philanthropy. Currently, she serves on the board of the Community Foundations Service Corporation, working with the Merrill Lynch Community Charitable Fund program. She was honored as Fundraising Executive of the Year in 2002 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

In the Birmingham community, she serves on the board of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham, the UAB President's Council, the board of the Eyesight Foundation of Alabama and the Alys Stephens Center Corporate Board. She is a member of the Junior League of Birmingham's Community Advisory Board and the boards of the Regions Charity Classic Foundation and Alabama Giving, a regional association of grantmakers. A graduate of Leadership Birmingham and Leadership Alabama, she is a member of Downtown Rotary.