Kate McCracken

About Kate McCracken

I work with leaders who are waking up to their innate wholeness. I help them see that what they were told was too much or not enough is actually their greatest gift. If that sentence just landed somewhere in your body, keep reading. I\'m Kate McCracken: coach, consultant, and change facilitator at M E Clarke Consulting. I\'ve spent 20 years at the intersection of people and process, inside organizations like The New York Times, the YMCA, Mental Health America, and Leadership for Educational Equity, and alongside teams at ACLU, SXSW, Purdue University, and more. I\'ve been the HR leader, the culture builder, the curriculum designer, the facilitator in the room when everything was falling apart and something new needed to emerge. In October 2025, after more than a decade of doing this work alongside a corporate HR career, I made the leap to full-time coaching and consulting. I could have gone solo. I could have gone to a big firm. I chose M E Clarke Consulting because Meghan Clarke has been building something rare here for nearly 20 years — a practice grounded in healing, heart, and the kind of organizational transformation that actually sticks. I wanted to bring everything I know to a place that already knows why it matters. What I know from all of it: the most effective leaders aren\'t the ones who have it most together. They\'re the ones who have learned to lead from who they actually are, not the professional persona they constructed to survive the environments they came up in. That\'s the work I do. Not fixing what\'s broken. Illuminating what\'s already there. I work with leaders 1:1, with teams, and through M E Clarke Consulting\'s programs and retreats. If you\'re a leader who is tired of contorting yourself to fit containers that were never built for you, and ready to find out what\'s possible when you stop, I\'d love to talk. Find us at meclarkeconsulting.com or reach out directly. I mean it.

Experience

1. Coach, Consultant, & Change Facilitator

   M E Clarke Consulting, Llc

   Sep 2012 — Present

   For 13 years, alongside a full-time corporate HR career, I ran my own coaching, consulting, and facilitation practice under the name Led by Kate. This is where I learned and practiced what I believe about leadership, culture, and what people are capable of when someone finally sees them clearly. I worked with nonprofit leaders, educators, community organizations, and individuals navigating career transitions, team conflict, and the particular loneliness of being the person everyone else looks to.I designed and facilitated hundreds of workshops, learning experiences, community dialogues, and leadership programs. I coached leaders through career transitions, difficult conversations, and the slow work of becoming more themselves.In October 2025, I made the leap full time and joined M E Clarke Consulting — a practice Meghan Clarke has been building for nearly 20 years, grounded in healing, heart, and the kind of organizational transformation that actually sticks. I wanted to bring everything I know to a place that already knows why it matters.At MECC I work with leaders, teams, and organizations who are ready for the kind of change that actually sticks, the kind that starts with the people doing the leading. My work includes 1:1 coaching with executives and emerging leaders, team facilitation, organizational culture consulting, and leadership development.The work is the same. The container got better.

Education

• School Board School

  Fellowship, Public Leadership

  2020 — 2021

• California State University, Fullerton

  Bachelor of Arts, Studio Art, Human Services

  1999 — 2004

• Cultural Intelligence Center

  Certified Trainer, Intercultural/Multicultural and Diversity Studies

  2021