Katie Kool

Katie Kool is a seasoned Finance Executive, who successfully transitioned to general management as a divisional CEO. She has a proven history of delivering superior results across both Consumer Products and Services business models.

Katie is an Audit Committee Financial Expert and currently serves as an Independent Director at Digimarc Corporation (NASDAQ: DMRC) where she is Chair of the Compensation and Talent Management Committee and on the Audit and the Governance, Nominating and Sustainability Committees. She also serves as an Independent Director at Aspen Aerogels (NYSE: ASPN) and is Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Nominating, Governance and Sustainability Committee.

Prior to retirement, Katie was the CEO of Tide Cleaners, a wholly owned subsidiary of Procter & Gamble. Tide Cleaners provides dry cleaning and laundry services through franchise and corporate stores, lockers, home delivery, and college campuses. Under Katie’s leadership, Tide Cleaners grew from 35 to 191 stores and was ranked in the top 100 in Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 for three consecutive years. She led the acquisition, integration, and expansion of two start-ups, extending Tide Cleaners reach to over 1,800 locker locations and 30 college campuses. Katie successfully navigated her business through the COVID crisis, growing industry share, opening new stores, and expanding to new campuses. Katie also led the team that launched the first Tide Laundromat as part of P&G’s disruptive innovation work.

Prior to her CEO experience, Katie was the CFO for North America Fabric Care, the largest regional business unit at P&G with over $8 billion in Retail Sales. During the 3.5 years that Katie was CFO, she grew the business by $1.5 Bn in Sales and $400M in profit. She was also CFO for the Global Procter & Gamble Professional business, where she developed and began implementing a 5-year strategic plan, including a more focused operating model, P&L, and cash investments to deliver sustainable Operating Total Shareholder Return.

In addition to her extensive business leadership experience, Katie was a key member of P&G’s award-winning Investor Relations team for 5.5 years. During her tenure as the 2nd in command for P&G’s Investor Relations team, she partnered with 3 CEO’s, successfully managed P&G’s first activist investor and led communication for the strategy renewal that spanned two $10 Billion productivity programs and a more focused portfolio of strategic brands. Katie also has strong controllership skills, leading the General Ledger Accounting organization for the Americas from the San Jose Costa Rica Service Center – integrating the Gillette acquisition.

In her personal time, she was Co-Founder & CEO of KW CrossFit, a profitable gym with over 100 members. Katie is the Founder and President of Impact100 Genesee County, which is focused on empowering a diverse group of women to make a transformational difference in our community. She is a Board Member and CFO for Sonje Ayiti, a nonprofit organization providing tools for Haitians to help themselves via education, economic development, and health promotion. Katie was Chair of the Tide Cleaners Advisory Board and an active member on the GreenEarth Cleaning Advisory Board.

Katie holds a BA from Kalamazoo College where she graduated summa cum laude and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. She lives with her husband in Michigan, is the mother to two adult children, and enjoys traveling with her family, CrossFit, trying new restaurants, and reading.