Kate Ritter

Kate joined Children’s Funding Project in 2021 as an early childhood advisor and has since built the organization’s cost modeling practice into a nationally recognized program. As Director of Cost Modeling, she leads the organization’s cost analysis and modeling portfolio, which includes developing innovative methodologies, managing multi-state learning cohorts, and establishing new service lines to support effective utilization of cost data.

For over two decades, Kate has partnered with state and local governments, foundations, national policy organizations, early care and education providers, and child advocacy groups to advance strategic financing for children and youth programs. Her work spans cost estimation, fiscal analysis, and policy implementation across multiple states, with particular expertise in early childhood education systems.

Before joining CFP, Kate served in the Illinois Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development, where she created a comprehensive cost model for the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) and led development of a QRIS framework for family child care providers. As Senior Policy Associate at Illinois Action for Children, she negotiated legislative outcomes, developed administrative advocacy strategies, and managed statewide campaigns that successfully secured policy changes and increased fiscal investments in early childhood.

Kate holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from Middlebury College and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago. She is a certified labor and postpartum doula. Kate lives in Vermont with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs.