About Kat

Katerina Taylor is a 15-year veteran of the financial services industry. An entrepreneur, and community advocate, she also served as vice president for SunTrust Bank from 2003-2012. Taylor successfully designed and executed business growth and development strategies, and created and facilitated training programs for more than 500 regional and local bank managers.   
The daughter of a successful entrepreneur, Taylor started her own business in 2009, Smart Kidz Money Matters, dedicated to delivering financial literacy education to students, families, and underserved communities. Taylor’s Smart Kidz program reached more than 1,000 students from Girl Scouts, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Clayton State University, Ivy Preparatory Academy and Communities in Schools, among others.

Taylor became the President and CEO of the DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce in 2014. Making her the first woman president and CEO in the Chamber's 80-year history.  The chamber’s core focus is to work with businesses across DeKalb and metro Atlanta, focusing on business growth, economic and workforce development, community outreach, education initiatives, business advocacy/public policy and business member relations. DeKalb County has more than 700,000 residents, is home to major brands and company headquarters, as well as to budding entrepreneurs, major universities, research firms  with over 100,000 students in the public school system, and is the 4th largest county in the state of Georgia . 

She wants to see people succeed, but her work keeps her busy so she finds its challenging to be a mentor.  That is why she created the On-line Mentor, a subscription based mentoring platform to help men and women realize their personal and professional goals.
     
Kat has a Bachelors of Business Administration in Marketing from Texas Wesleyan University, and an MBA in Finance from Argosy University.

She's lived in Atlanta for 15 years and has a pet Pomeranian named Mr. President.      
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Kat Taylor, President & CEO of DeKalb Chamber,Georgia Aquarium 2016

Board Service

  • Citizens Trust Bank NGAB (Public Board) 
  • United Way of Greater Atlanta
  • ​CDC Federal Credit Union Board of Directors 
  • GA Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (past)
  • Regional Business Coalition
  • DeKalb Schools Superintendent Advisory Board  

Affilations

  • Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc.
  • Leadership Georgia
  • Leadership Atlanta
  • American Jewish Committee Project Understanding  
  • New Leaders Council Fellow
  • Johnetta B Cole Women's Cabinet
  • Junior League DeKalb
  • NAACP DeKalb
  • Leadership DeKalb

Awards

  • Atlanta Business Chronicle 40 Under 40 
  • GA Trend Mag 40 Under 40 
  • Kennesaw State Siegal Leadership Institute Phenomenal woman of the Year Award 2017
  • 2017 DeKalb County Hidden Figure Award.
  • dREAM Church SHEro Award
  • Pro Networker Connector Award 
  • ABL Top 100 Most Influential Black Women In Metro Atlanta 2016,2017
  • DeKalb County CEO Vanguard Award for Leadership 
  • Atlanta Tribune History Maker
  • ​Doris J Harris Humanitarian Award Tau Epsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Incorporated.

Education

  • Texas Wesleyan University, BBA
  • Argosy University, MBA
  • Georgia Academy for Economic Development (DCA) 
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