Katie Locke
Senior Director of Marketing and Communications
Katie Locke specializes in higher education marketing, strategic communications, brand strategy, and thought leadership. She leads the Gardner Institute's marketing and communications strategy, helping translate complex research, institutional transformation efforts, and student success initiatives into compelling communications that engage higher education leaders. Her work strengthens the Institute's national visibility and advances evidence-informed approaches to postsecondary transformation.
Katie Locke joined the Gardner Institute in 2018 and brings more than two decades of experience in marketing, communications, education, and organizational leadership. Her career spans higher education, K-12 education, nonprofit organizations, and small business, giving her a broad perspective on how strategic communications can support institutional change.
Before joining the Institute, Katie served as Director of Business Development for a business coaching firm and helped launch a charter school in western North Carolina. Earlier in her career, she taught and worked with schools in Kansas City, Missouri, the London Borough of Lewisham, and George Town, Grand Cayman.
Katie has received two Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad grants supporting educational research in Hungary and West Africa. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Missouri State University.