Kate Vitasek
International authority on highly collaborative win-win relationships
My mission is to educate, inspire, and empower organizations and individuals on the art, science, and practice of highly collaborative win-win relationships that will forever change the way organizations and individuals approach strategic business relationships.
Over 250 organizations have unlocked the power of highly collaborative win-win business relationships by adopting my award-winning research.
Kate Vitasek
International authority on highly collaborative win-win relationships
My mission is to educate, inspire, and empower organizations on how to create an engaged collaborative culture that creates true win-win relationships.
Over 250 organizations have unlocked the power of highly collaborative win-win business relationships by adopting my award-winning research.
Who am I?
- An Educator: Leader of the University of Tennessee research on strategic partnerships and developed UT’s Certified Deal Architect Program
- An Author: Written 7 books and over 300 articles including 4 in Harvard Business Review
- An International Authority: Featured on Fox Business News, CNN International, NPR, and Bloomberg’s Taking Stock
- A Keynote Speaker: Shared her insights with hundreds of audiences around the world
- A Former Business Executive and Consultant: An alum of P&G, Microsoft, Stream International, and Accenture, and has been in the trenches and seen the practice of business relationships from the buy-side, sell-side, and consulting perspective
- A Wife and Mom: Married to a firefighter and has a son who is a budding artist who wants to change the world through community-focused art
My Story
I have a unique perspective on collaboration and how to create an engaged collaborative culture because I have been in the trenches with a front-row seat looking at how organizations work from all angles. I’ve worked on the development / buy-side (Microsoft), the supplier / sell side (Stream International) and the manufacturing / marketing side (P&G) of business. I’ve also spent time as a consultant (Accenture), so I have seen how easy it is to create fancy presentations and a pretty vinyl binder report that gets stuck on someone’s shelf or lost on their hard drive.
When the University of Tennessee asked me to lead a large research project funded by the United States Air Force and Department of Defense to study complex business relationships, I found my calling; I could transcend being in the trenches on a transactional treadmill and unpack how to make strategic business relationships work.
The result of my research – The Vested Way –harnesses five simple rules to transform a “What’s-in-it-for-Me” culture into a highly collaborative and engaged “What’s-in-it-for-We” culture.
Over 250 organizations have unlocked the power of highly collaborative win-win business relationships by adopting my award-winning research.
International Authority on highly collaborative
win-win relationships
From Research…
20+ years of research
- 9 books from the University of Tennessee faculty
- 25 white papers (all in open source)
- 10 courses
- 7 online
- 2 “live” (onsite or virtual)
- 1 distance learning
- 300 + articles including 4 in Harvard Business Review
To Relevance
600 companies…
- sending over 10,000 people to our courses
- completing 134 initiatives and 150 Compatibility and Trust Assessments
- producing 20 formal case studies featuring the journeys of 36 organizations with another 32 other organizations being open/public about their success
- resulting in 161 Certified Deal Architects around the world
Kate is a Recognized Thought Leader
- Supply Chain Council’s “Academic Advancement Award”
- World Financial Review “Power Influencer”
- Sourcing Industry Group’s “Supernova Hall of Fame”
- World Commerce and Contracting “Fellow”
- International Association for Outsourcing Professionals “Hall of Fame”
- Global Sourcing Association’s “A-List”
- Global Executive Women “Woman of International Influence”
- Journal of Commerce “Woman on the Move in Trade and Transportation”
- World Trade Magazine’s “Fabulous 50+1 People Influencing Global Commerce”
- Institute for Dispute Prevention and Resolution “Conflict Prevention Leadership” award
- DC Velocity “Rainmaker”
- Stevie Award finalist for best business under 100 people
- ARC Advisory Group as one of the “10 coolest boutique-consulting firms”