Kathryn Hunter's rare ability to balance a prestigious career with community service has made her a leader in local philanthropy.
As the president of First Akron Corporation and the honorary chairwoman of Valley Savings Bank, Kathryn has used her knowledge of greater Akron to advocate for local nonprofits.
In addition to her current positions on the boards of the American Heart Association and the Akron Roundtable, Kathryn has been a trustee for dozens of other organizations, including Akron Community Foundation, the United Way of Summit County, and the Summit Education Partnership Fund. At the University of Akron, she created and facilitated the first program in the state of Ohio to help adult women returning to school or work.
But above all, Kathryn has been a loyal patron of the arts. She is a founding trustee of E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall and is on the development board of the Akron Symphony Orchestra.
She also spent years serving on the advisory boards of WKSU and the Ohio Ballet, along with the boards of her alma maters, Ohio Wesleyan University and the University of Akron.
Kathryn's long history of volunteering while also growing her own business – and, at one time, running two local newspapers – earned her a long list of awards during her career. In 2001, the YWCA named Kathryn one of its 100 Top Women of Distinction, and several decades earlier, she was named the Woman of the Year by both the Akron Beacon Journal and the Women's History Project.
In 2010, she added the Bert A. Polsky Humanitarian Award to her distinctions.