Katharine Cornfield
Owner & President
Meet Katharine
A multi-disciplinarian by nature, Katharine's career has taken her from senior political aide and public service manager to non-profit founder and small business owner. As President of Change Group, she uses her in-depth knowledge of enterprise-level organizational development, governance, integrated human capital/financial management, and change leadership to help forward-looking executive teams align people behind purpose, shift culture, and improve organizational performance.
A strategic advisor to both emerging and established leaders in the corporate real estate, infrastructure, and sustainability sectors, Katharine partners with her clients to strengthen organizational capability by pinpointing relevant data, shaping insights, and bringing focus where action is needed.
Katharine is also a committed champion for gender equality, a core value she has turned into action as creator of ambiSHEous®, a leading-edge training initiative focused on the economic empowerment, leadership development, and career advancement of girls and young women. Katharine has spoken often on the future of work for young women and hosted Beginner Women, a podcast series challenging the way we think about preparing girls and young women for life, work and leadership.
An active community member, Katharine has served in various capacities with the YMCA-YWCA, Junior Achievement, and Ottawa’s Causeway Work Centre, a non-profit agency providing employment assistance through innovative social enterprises.
Katharine holds a BA in Canadian Studies from Trent University, a professional certificate in Marketing from the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University, and is a certified Change Management Practitioner through APMG International. A lifelong learner, she recently completed her MBA through the University of the People.
Katharine is a member of the National Executive Forum on Public Property and the Commercial Real Estate Women Network.
She’s ambiSHEous.
Change Group President Katharine Cornfield is also creator of ambiSHEous®, a leading-edge training initiative focused on the economic empowerment, leadership development, and career advancement of girls.
Through proprietary curriculum ambiSHEous® is empowering a new generation of young female leaders to become whoever and whatever they want to be. In addition to custom programs, the flagship StartUp Self™ program takes direct aim at Canada’s gender gap in leadership. By combining financial, digital, and civic literacy with entrepreneurship, the ambiSHEous® StartUp Self™ program is equipping a new generation of future leaders and decision-makers with the critical skills and knowledge they need to thrive today and in tomorrow’s economy.
Since 2015, Katharine’s ambiSHEous® initiative has helped hundreds of girls and young women to develop autonomy, agency and purpose. She is currently growing a network of licensed partners delivering proprietary StartUp Self™ Sessions in youth-serving community-based organizations across Canada.
