Katy Caldwell oral history interview and transcript

Abstract

For the past 17 years, Katy Caldwell has been the CEO of Legacy Community Health Services, Inc., a not for profit federally qualified health center which provides low or no cost health, social, and educational services. Prior to her position with Legacy, Caldwell was with the firm, Quantum Consultants, a government relations and political consulting firm where she served as a legislative consultant for business and local governments on issues ranging from health care policy to child abuse prevention.

From 1991 until 1994, Caldwell served as the elected Treasurer of Harris County and was appointed by Governor Ann Richards to the Board of Trustees of the Texas County and District Retirement System that oversees over $4 billion dollars in retirement funds.

Caldwell is active in several community organizations. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her community activities. She is currently on the board of directors of AIDS United, Greater Houston Health Connect, Harris County Healthcare Alliance, Houston First, and LISC. Caldwell is an alumna of the American Leadership Forum, Center for Houston’s Future, Leadership Houston, and the Texas Lyceum.

Katy Caldwell is a native Houstonian, a graduate of the University of Houston, and lives in Montrose with her cats, Larry, LuLu, and Snickers.

In 2009 she founded and became the Executive Director of the Texas Transgender Non-discrimination Summit (TXTNS.) It formed a grassroots effort to look at strategic approaches to the issues of social justice and policy implementation in regards to the concepts of gender identity and gender expression, working to end discrimination in those areas. In 2009 there were only three universities in Texas with inclusive policies - Rice University, the University of Texas, and South Texas College of Law. In the spring of 2016 there were 38 university systems and five Texas independent school districts.

In April of 2014 The Student Government Association at the University of Houston passed the Josephine Tittsworth Act. The student bill addresses the safety concerns of transgender people on campus. The bill allows transgender students to use their proper name, title, and gender when completing official university documents. She has been featured in radio, print and television for her work on transgender issues and has spoken at numerous colleges, businesses, and organizations. She founded numerous peer support groups for crossdressers across the USA and is an experienced lobbyist for transgender rights in Austin, Texas and Washington DC. She has worked diligently for equality but most importantly she has guided others to develop their leadership skills.