Katie Arnold is a strong disability advocate with a sense of social justice. As Executive Director of Our Place from 2024, Katie brings more than 20 years of experience in the disability field and over 10 years of experience building and growing a national disability nonprofit organization. Prior to her leadership of Our Place, Katie was a faculty member in the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC).  At UIC Katie also served as the Director of Stakeholder Engagement for the Institute on Disability and Human Development, taught graduate and undergraduate courses, and conducted inclusive research on family support, future planning, and self-determination of people with IDD.  A distinguished expert in her field, she is a highly sought-after speaker who has presented at more than 100 national conferences.  She has also authored numerous publications, including 29 articles in peer-reviewed journals.  In addition to her work at UIC, Katie served from 2012-22 as the founding Executive Director of the Sibling Leadership Network (SLN), a national nonprofit that support siblings of people with disabilities across the life course. Grounding her work in her previous experience living in L'Arche, a community based on mutual relationships between people with and without disabilities, Katie truly immerses herself in the disability community to listen deeply, learn from others, and guide her work. Katie has a long commitment to community education and information dissemination, and she is a bridge builder between academia and the community. Growing up with her sister with intellectual disabilities shaped Katie’s worldview and influenced her career path. Katie lives in Oak Park with her husband, Gary, who is a disability advocate, and their son with developmental disabilities.