Collin County Commissioners' Court Collin County Government Center 210 S. McDonald St. Suite 626 McKinney, TX 75069 Email: kward@collincountytx.gov Phone: 972-424-1460 ext. 4631 Fax: 972-548-4699

Appointed to the Court on July 8, 2008, Kathy has been active in politics as a volunteer for over 15 years. Immediately prior to her appointment as Commissioner, she served as the elected Collin County GOP Party Chairman. She was the first woman to serve the Collin County Republican Party in this leadership role. Under Kathy’s leadership her county's election results for GOP candidates in 2006 were tops in the state as well as the nation.

Kathy lives in Plano, Texas with her two children who she considers her greatest blessings in life.

Kathy helped coordinate current Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's statewide Attorney General Race, where she headed up the statewide grassroots effort to recruit and train an army of volunteers who participated in the AG's election campaign, and personally escorted him to many of the campaign events.

In the same campaign cycle, Kathy also coordinated current Texas Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright's North Texas run-off election, increasing his voting percentage by 30% from the primary to the run-off in three major North Texas counties.

Kathy worked for four years as a political consultant for Brannon and Company. She has vast experience in fundraising and event planning for elected officials and candidates. As a political consultant she also has experience with speech coaching, image consulting, and media training. She has had experience with all levels and aspects of launching and winning effective campaigns. As a consultant, she worked with legislators to develop effective legislation and build coalitions to ensure the passage of that legislation. During her time with Brannon and Company, she worked with candidates and elected official from the local, state and federal levels of government.

Kathy Ward currently works as director of operations for Debt Settlement America (DSA), having previously worked as the company’s media relations/process manager. She managed the BSI TASC Best Practices accreditation process for DSA last spring and is currently working with DSA leadership towards their 2008 re-accreditation. Kathy works with management to implement departmental policies and procedures and she serves on the DSA Quality Assurance Board. She also handles press releases, media events, and deals with media on informational inquiries, and is also involved with the organization of DSA charitable events and work, such as programs for the North Texas Food Bank and the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center.

Kathy is a member of the TASC Board at Large and serves on the Legislative Committee, the PR Committee and the Convention Committee. She has great passion towards the rights of consumers to choose debt settlement as a viable option towards financial freedom.

Before DSA, Kathy consulted for another debt settlement company in the Dallas area. She was tasked with helping them develop management processes and streamline their development programs for maximum efficiency.

Before embarking on a professional political career path, Kathy was employed by Dale Carnegie Training as a certified corporate leadership training instructor and salesperson in the training field. She is a certified Dale Carnegie Instructor and qualified to teach The Dale Carnegie Course, High Impact Presentations and the Professional Development Series.

Upon graduating from college, Kathy was a teacher at Plano East Senior High for seven years where she taught Special Education and worked as a drill/dance team coach.

Possessing a strong belief in community involvement, Kathy has been an active civic volunteer since her high school days. She has served as a Special Olympics Coach as well as a Big Sister for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Collin County. Kathy volunteered at various Collin County nursing homes and was a Wylie High School volunteer mentor. Kathy is a graduate of Leadership Plano, and was appointed by the Mayor to serve two terms as a Plano Community Relations Commissioner. Kathy was recognized for her leadership and contributions in the Collin County area in 2006 by Inside Collin County Business and was chosen as a recipient of the prestigious “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” award. Kathy was appointed by the Commissioner’s Court and served as a member of the 2007 Collin County Transportation Bond Sub-Committee. She has also been an appointed as a Special Commissioner in several Collin County land acquisition cases.