Senior V.P./Chief Human Resources Officer
Kate joined Y-USA in 2019 as Senior V.P./Chief Human Resource Officer. She is the primary partner for the overall leadership and coordination of all Y-USA HR functions and guides the HR team to support the achievement of strategic goals. She provides direction on workforce initiatives including diversity and inclusion, career development and succession planning. She leads the essential HR functions including employee relations, talent acquisition, total rewards, HRIS and workplace learning while promoting programs that build a positive, supportive and inclusive work environment through recognition. As CHRO for Y-USA, she serves as staff liaison to the Executive Compensation Committee of the National Board of Directors.
Wollensak joins Y-USA from the Alzheimer’s Association where she was the VP Human Resources supporting the non-profit’s enterprise workplace initiatives during their transformation from a federated to unified organizational model. Prior to the Alzheimer’s Association, she supported extreme change management initiatives in the manufacturing, service and consumer sectors in senior HR roles for brands such as Morton Salt, PepsiCo, Berkshire Hathaway and SBC/Ameritech.
As a volunteer, Wollensak serves in both governance and operational roles for non-profit organizations and professional affiliations. She is the current chair of the Total Rewards Interest Group of the Human Resource Management Association of Chicago (HRMAC), current member and past president of the Chicago Compensation Association and a member of both SHRM and World at Work. She is a lifetime Girl Scout and former executive board member of a local council, and currently resides on the DuPage County Workforce Board, created under the 1998 Federal Workforce Investment Act (WIOA 2014). The Board provides an essential link between economic development, education and jobs for the DuPage County community.
Wollensak earned her BS from Illinois State University and MBA from Benedictine University.
