Every company starts with a spark. Sometimes it’s a big idea, a moment of frustration, or a quiet belief that things could be better. For coLAB, that spark was all three, and what’s kept it burning is a shared commitment to doing the work differently.
We’re not just building a platform. We’re building a mission-driven company that brings together sustainability, strategic consulting, purpose-built software, and values-centered facilitation. Our work is rooted in partnership, designed to help mission-driven organizations lead with clarity, confidence, and connection.
Through this four-part series, we’re excited to introduce the founding team behind coLAB 2.0—not just to reflect on where we’ve been, but to share what we’re building together.
These aren’t just bios or product updates. These are stories about trust, resilience, and the long game we’re playing together. Because at coLAB, this isn’t just what we do, it’s how we do it. With intention. With each other. And with the future in mind.
Meet the Team: Kate Gallagher, Chief Strategy Officer
Strategy That Starts with People
At coLAB, strategy is not just a process. It is a practice of listening, reflection, and intentionality. For Chief Strategy Officer Kate Gallagher, that practice is both personal and professional. She brings nearly two decades of experience working with nonprofits and mission-driven organizations, and she leads from a place that blends rigor with deep empathy.
“coLAB originally started as a consulting practice back in 2014,” Kate says. “It was built around helping people find their way through complexity, really listening to what matters and creating space for grounded, strategic decisions.”
coLAB relaunched its brand and approach in 2025, becoming something even more powerful: a company that delivers both consulting and technology, led by a team committed to values-first growth. The decision came after a major shift—several members of the 2025 coLAB team had worked together at a once-successful tech company that was suddenly sold out from under them. It was a move that prioritized profit over people, and while it could have fractured the team, it only brought them closer.
That upheaval challenged their leadership and tested their unity, but ultimately clarified who they were and how they wanted to work.
“We had built something that really mattered,” Kate recalls. “I didn’t want to walk away from it. I believed in the team and our shared vision, so we chose to keep going—and to build something even stronger.”
That decision led to the relaunch of coLAB as a new kind of company—one that integrates strategic consulting and technology, bringing together the best of both worlds. For Kate, it was a natural next step: a chance to combine her facilitation expertise with purpose-built tools that help organizations scale their impact. It also created the opportunity to reunite some of the most talented people from her career—forming a dynamic, values-driven team at the intersection of service and software.
From Facilitation to Functionality
That evolution led to the launch of VERVE, coLAB’s strategy software platform. As Chief Strategy Officer, Kate helped shape its structure, language, and logic, translating years of in-person facilitation and real-world planning into a tool that organizations can use to facilitate easy and data drive strategic planning.
“VERVE makes strategic planning more accessible and more actionable,” she says. “It’s not just about technology or consulting anymore – it’s about turning thoughtful conversations into sustainable momentum.”
Kate continues to lead coLAB’s consulting work while guiding its overall strategic vision. Whether she is supporting a city-wide stakeholder engagement or designing features inside the platform, her focus remains steady: help people feel less overwhelmed, more aligned, and better equipped to move forward strategically.
Strategy Rooted in Purpose
Kate’s leadership is grounded in the belief that how we work matters just as much as what we deliver. Internally and externally, she insists on clarity, care, and alignment with values.
“I want coLAB to be known not just for what we do, but for how we show up,” she says. “That includes how we treat our team, how we price our services, and how we respond when things get hard. Our integrity is our impact.”
Her commitment is also shaped by the communities she serves, and the family she’s raising.
“I want my teenagers to grow up in a world where leaders are supported, where systems are more just, and where organizations lead with heart. I want them to know that doing good is not a side project. It is a responsibility.”
Looking Ahead
Kate’s story is just one part of what makes coLAB unique, and it reflects the core of who we are: a team of people who believe that strategy can be both practical and personal, and that doing good work starts with how we treat each other.
As we continue to grow, coLAB isn’t chasing scale for its own sake, we’re building depth, trust, and tools that help organizations lead with intention. We’re proving that technology can be human-centered, that consulting can be collaborative, and that values and results aren’t in conflict, they’re inseparable.
This is more than a company relaunch. It’s a recommitment to each other, to the communities we serve, and to the kind of future we want to build.
And we’re just getting started.
