Viral Post
The Women Leaders Association, the largest publisher and events organization for women professionals with 43,000 members and more than 130 regional chapters, today announced Kate Zappitelli as the first official Coaching Partner of its Denver chapter. The appointment launches the association's Coaching Partners program in Colorado, giving members direct access to coaches screened for credentials, track record, and client results.
Coaching is one of the highest-impact investments a professional woman can make in her career, and one of the hardest to shop for. Titles are unregulated and quality varies enormously. Under Coaching Partners, the association does the screening on the member's behalf, vetting every coach for recognized certifications, verifiable experience, and excellent client reviews, so members can book a consultation with confidence.
Strong, capable leaders often agree on the goal and still cannot move forward together. Zappitelli has seen what happens when that occurs: things slow down, trust erodes, and progress stalls. Her work is about changing that.
For more than 15 years, she has guided senior leaders and teams through transformation and growth. Her work strengthens leadership capability, deepens partnership, and builds high-performing teams that deliver results while enjoying how they work together.
As Chair of the Alignment Institute® and a Principal at Karrikins Group®, a global behavior change company, she helps executives and teams move beyond agreement and into real alignment, leading with clarity, connection, commitment, and courage. She is known for surfacing the conversations leaders avoid and translating strategy into practical ways of working, helping executive teams clarify priorities, navigate tradeoffs, and turn complex strategy into shared understanding and aligned action.
Her coaching specialization is leadership. A Certified Professional Co-Active Coach and an Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation, she coaches leaders one on one by bringing practical tools that help leaders start with self, clarify what truly matters, and align around how they work with their teams and colleagues.
Her path to this work runs through higher education and community. She served as chief of staff in the Office of the Provost at New York University, led special projects and chaired the Inclusivity Alliance at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and has spent more than a decade as a facilitator with Affinity Arts Consulting, where interactive theatre opens honest conversations about culture and belonging. She has served on the board of Envision:You, most recently as Board Co-Chair, and was recognized with the Karrikins Group® Level Up Award for personal growth and leadership. She holds a master's degree in higher education from New York University and a bachelor's in communication from the University of Colorado Boulder.
"I've seen what happens when strong, capable leaders pull in different directions," said Zappitelli. "Things slow down, trust erodes, and progress stalls. Agreement is not alignment. My work is helping leaders and teams get to aligned action, which means surfacing the conversations people have been avoiding and turning them into a practical way of working together. I'm honored to bring that to the Women Leaders Association's Denver members."
Denver-area members can view Zappitelli's full profile, including her focus areas and credentials, book a free 30-minute consult, or send her a private note through her page at
https://DenverWomenLeaders.org/coaching.html?coach=KateZappitelli
"Most of our members do not need to be told to work harder. They need their leadership team to actually move in the same direction," said Lydia Price, 2026 Volunteer Chair of the Women Leaders Association. "Kate does that for a living, at the level of the executive team, and she pairs it with ICF and Co-Active coaching credentials. Denver could not have a stronger first Coaching Partner."
The Denver launch is part of a national rollout extending Coaching Partners across the association's network of more than 130 chapters, pairing each city's members with coaches selected for that market.
Coaching Partners extends the association's mission of giving professional women both structural transparency and individual support. Research from Pew and others estimates that women still earn roughly 15 percent less than men on average, and the association's Glass Ceiling Score project scores most major U.S. employers on how fairly they promote women into management and executive roles. Coaching Partners adds the personal dimension: once a member sees the landscape clearly, a proven coach helps her move through it.
About Kate Zappitelli
Kate Zappitelli, CPCC, ACC, is Chair of the Alignment Institute® and a Principal Consultant and HOW Activator at Karrikins Group®, a global behavior change company, where she has worked since 2018. She is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach through the Co-Active Training Institute and an Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation. Her earlier career includes chief of staff in the Office of the Provost at New York University and special projects and inclusivity leadership at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and she has facilitated with Affinity Arts Consulting since 2015. In 2024 she was named a finalist in the Stevie® Awards for Female Employee of the Year. She holds an M.A. in higher education from New York University and a B.A. in communication from the University of Colorado Boulder, and lives in Denver with her family.
About the Women Leaders Association
The Women Leaders Association is a non-profit committed to the development and advancement of women in the corporate arena. With 43,000 members and more than 130 chapters in major cities, it is the largest publisher and events organization serving women professionals, producing conferences, leadership programs, original research, and daily publications for its members. We also celebrate the top 50 business women in each city, publish a Glass Ceiling Score ranking how well most employers advance women, and then recognize the best women's employers in each city from these rankings.
Events Near You: https://WomanLeaders.org/r/
Best Employers Near You: https://WomanLeaders.org/r/GlassCeiling
Visit the Denver chapter: https://DenverWomenLeaders.org
Media Contact: Women Leaders Association, Service@WomanLeaders.org
Media Contact:
Lydia Price
Denver Women Leaders Association
Service@DenverWomenLeaders.org
