Hellllooooo! I’m Kate.
I’m a lifelong performer who, in my downtime, gobbles up books on mathematics; I guess that means I like to experience the whole spectrum of living life to its fullest? A handful of years ago I realized that I was intuitively applying the theoretical math I was reading about to my work as an Organizational Designer for a wide range of organizations.
I speak on how math shows up in our everyday lives
and how to use that knowledge as the fuel for making the best choices.
If you’re looking for someone to inspire your group to build a sustainable, human-centered, kick-ass plan-of-action that just happens to be grounded in mathematical concepts, then I’m the (animated) nerd that you want.
Recent Speaking Topics
1. Chaos Theory + Civil Rights = 21st Century Corporate Practices
2. This Is What Transformational Change Looks Like: An Excerpt from the Diaries of an Isosceles Triangle
3. The Four Linear Steps to (re)Structuring A Company
4. How To Organize Dissonance into Sweet Sweet Harmony
5. Applying Theoretical Math to Team Management
Past Speaking Events include:
Let me tell you why I <3 math and how it pops up IRL
Super Short Bio
Kate Ertmann is a math researcher, a recovering entrepreneur, and an Organizational Designer. She helps math make sense in the real world while celebrating and honoring the work of the academics. To learn more about Kate, read her essays, or to ask her to speak at your event, join her at http://www.katelovesmath.com
Short Bio for Speaker Intros
Kate Ertmann’s focus in Organizational Design is at the intersection of humans ↔ financials, working with companies and their teams in a variety of industries so that they can thrive in the 21st century workplace. She is a recovering entrepreneur who built and led her 3D animation studio, Animation Dynamics, to the point of sale in 2014. As an active part of her community, Kate has been on the Board of Directors for Bradley-Angle – the oldest domestic violence services organization on the west coast; Bitch Media – the feminist response to pop-culture media publication; and the Rotary Club of Portland (Oregon) where she served as the 2019/20 club President.
In 2022, Kate created Kate Loves Math*, a blog of math-centric essays that offers an explanation for the why behind all the happenings and a how for navigating through it.
Most importantly of all – Kate’s favorite food is buttered popcorn.
Full Bio if you are still curious about my creative-to-nerd life arc
Before the age of 30, Kate Ertmann was wrapped up in the world of film and television – first as a child actor in NYC, then after earning a BS in Telecommunications from Ohio University she continued moving westward and worked as an Indie Filmmaker, then a TV Commercial Producer, and eventually a Digital Producer for multi-platform campaigns.
It was when she started utilizing 3D animation in her projects that she realized it was a perfect coupling of the entertainment world she’d been immersed in all her life and the math & science world that she loved but had been keeping behind-the-scenes. Kate soon became a partner at Animation Dynamics Inc in 2000, the sole owner in 2008, and then grew the company to the point of sale in 2014.
Since then, Kate’s been an Organizational Design consultant, focusing on the intersection of humans:financials, working with companies and their teams in a variety of industries so that they can thrive in the 21st century workplace. As start-ups were frequently in her client-base, she took a one-year hiatus from the consultancy to be the COO at Qcut, a fashion/tech hybrid making women’s jeans in 400 sizes to fit 8 different body types and all heights.
In 2022, Kate created Kate Loves Math*, a blog of math-centric essays that offers an explanation for the why behind all the happenings and a how for navigating through it all. It’s a space where she can use her voice to share what she’s ingested from years of gobbling up all-things-math, and elaborate on how she realized that she could – and did, and still does – apply those learnings in her work as an Organizational Designer as well as in her own day-to-day experiences.
As an active part of her community, Kate was a board director for 6 years with Bradley Angle, the oldest domestic violence services organization on the west coast, and then a board director for 5 years with Bitch Media, the publication that provided an engaged, thoughtful feminist response to mainstream media and popular culture for over 25 years. She was the President of Rotary Club of Portland (2019/20) and has served as a board director as well as a board trustee in her 12+years as a Rotarian. Kate has received honors from her peers, including an Orchid Award for being one of Portland’s Most Influential Women.
Most importantly of all – Kate’s favorite food is buttered popcorn.