Douglas Katz, Founder and VP for Adult Programs

Douglas graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1993 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Leadership. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as an officer in the United States Army. He spent five years as an Artillery Officer training and leading groups ranging in size from 5 to over 100 in a variety of settings including multiple rotations at the United States National Training Center and a deployment to Kuwait.

After leaving the Army, Douglas joined NACO National Castings as a Product Support Engineer. In this capacity, he established himself as a capable leader and tenacious problem solver by lending his expertise to the resolution of quality issues for one of the company’s largest international clients, South African Conglomerate RSD Dorbyl.

Douglas next set his eyes on technology, accepting a position with Tellabs, a premier manufacturer of telecommunications equipment. As a deployment team leader, he led a team of specialists in the management of multi-million dollar telecommunications infrastructure projects. During this period, his team achieved a “Best in Class” rating from their primary customer, AT&T Local. Additionally, he was specifically chosen to aid in the multiple multi-departmental process development and improvement initiatives.

Most recently, Douglas has been in the residential lending industry in leadership, sales, and business development roles for several of Chicago’s largest independent mortgage banks, as well as national lenders, such as CitiMortgage. There he has been essential in development and implementation of new and unique marketing strategies.

In addition to his Bachelor’s Degree form West Point, Douglas holds an M.B.A. from Loyola University Chicago, where he was also inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society. He served as President for the West Point Society of Chicago from 2003 to 2005 and was asked to serve in an advisory role for the Illinois Virtual High School 2005 Strategic Planning Session.