Kathleen Laster

2021 Distinguished Alumni

B.S. Speech Communications '77, M.S. Community Counseling '95

 

Dr. Kathy Laster is a founding board member and currently the President/CEO of the Avedis Foundation, a $100M hospital conversion private foundation, located in Shawnee. Before taking the helm at the Avedis Foundation, Kathy served as CEO of Impact for 10 years, an executive coaching and organizational consulting firm she co-founded. As a licensed psychologist, she maintained a private practice as co-owner of Behavioral Medicine Associates in Shawnee for 13 years. Prior to these endeavors, she spent 15 years in a corporate management career with Southwestern Bell/AT&T.

She earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Oklahoma.  She holds an MBA, with honors, from Oklahoma City University, and an M.S. in Community Counseling and a B.S. in Communication Consultancy from Oklahoma State University.

She served as past Chairperson and 18-year member of her community hospital board. Additionally, she is a Past President of the National Board of the Oklahoma State University Alumni Association.  She was previously appointed by Oklahoma’s Governor to the Oklahoma Science and Technology Council, was an adjunct professor for OU College of Pharmacy Leadership Institute, and is a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma. She was recently named the Fourth Most Powerful Person in Pottawatomie County by the Countywide News. She and her husband and two adult children all proudly bleed orange!