Kristen is a life-long Struthers resident who utilizes her background and experience to lead community and economic development projects across the Mahoning Valley. She founded KO Consulting in 2012 while working full-time as the Grants Coordinator for the Mahoning County Sanitary Engineering Department. In Fall 2020, Kristen left her job with the county to pursue serving her community full-time through KO Consulting.

Kristen is responsible for bringing millions of dollars to our community through her work at the county and through KO Consulting. She is actively developing multiple organizations aimed at bringing economic development and growth back to the Youngstown area.

In addition to KO Consulting, Kristen serves as Executive Director of Green Industrial Manufacturing, Inc (GIME), and is a Partner of Blue Phoenix Strategies. Kristen also serves as President of the Board for the YWCA, a board member of Youngstown Prosperity, and is a member of the Struthers Rotary Community Corps, among many other community serving roles.

In 2015, Kristen published her first book, “Winning Elections: A Blueprint for the Public Servant in the US.” When she’s not working, you can find her on her breezeway enjoying a good cup of coffee and a book.

Combining a background in business and marketing with experience in non-profit development, Victoria is passionate about finding creative opportunities to drive purpose-driven partnerships.

Victoria started her career more than a decade ago working in Youngstown neighborhoods with the YNDC, and has since lent her knowledge and skills to a variety of organizations working in marketing, tech start-ups, entrepreneurial ventures, nonprofit administration, and global community and corporate development. As a nonprofit development professional, Victoria’s diverse portfolio consisted of national and global partners, spanning from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses, civic groups, and community organizations. After 7 years living in Virginia, Victoria returned to her roots in the valley to join the team at KO Consulting as Director, Business Development & Operations. In this capacity, Victoria wears many hats – managing marketing, communication and operations functions for the team, while lending her diverse experience to help clients identify right-fit opportunities to market and grow their organizations.

She is passionate about communicating the immense growth potential in the Mahoning Valley, and ensuring the business and nonprofit leaders that have chosen to make this area their home base have the tools they need to achieve long-term success.