Founder's Corner
Katoya Palmer (pronoun: she/her)
How I Lead & Why It Matters
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I’m a systems-minded fixer with a people-first lens—and a polymath spirit that thrives at the intersection of structure and soul.
With over two decades of experience across nonprofit, public, and private sectors, I specialize in untangling organizational chaos, aligning teams around shared goals, and building infrastructure that lasts. My work spans leadership coaching, creative direction, executive operations, community-centered research, and AI-driven innovation. I bring calm, clarity, and a grounded strategy to complex moments of growth, conflict, and transition.
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I don’t just solve problems—I humanize them. My methodology is shaped by a lived understanding of what it means to navigate power, systems, and identity from the margins. I lead with rigor, but also with ritual, rhythm, and reflection.
I’m the one you call when the stakes are high, the road is unclear, or the team needs direction with heart.
Here’s what I bring to the table:
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I lead with integrity. Trust is built through transparency, consistency, and accountability—especially when it's hard.
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I center community. My strategies are rooted in the lived experience, wisdom, and aspirations of those most impacted.
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I design for liberation. I build systems that disrupt harm, heal wounds, and unlock possibility.
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I balance structure with soul. I honor data and discipline, but never lose sight of intuition, creativity, or cultural nuance.
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I move with clarity and creativity. The creative process is my tool for visioning, storytelling, and strategic innovation.
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I value relationships over transactions. My leadership is collaborative, relational, and radically human.
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I believe in transformation. I hold space for the evolution of people, institutions, and futures.
This is how I show up. Not just to do the work—but to shift what's possible.
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Founder, Strategist, Cultural Architect
Building Systems with Soul. Leading Change with Purpose.
Katoya Palmer (she/her) is a visionary strategist, organizational architect, and founder of ToyBox Consulting & Management, LLC — a boutique firm helping mission-driven organizations and creatives build systems that reflect their values. With more than two decades of cross-sector experience, Katoya specializes in operations strategy, project leadership, change management, creative development, and AI integration.
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Since founding ToyBox in 2008 and relaunching it as an LLC in 2020, Katoya has guided nonprofits, government agencies, and BIPOC-led enterprises in aligning teams, building infrastructure, and leading transformational change. She expanded ToyBox’s offerings in 2020 to include digital strategy and AI prompt engineering, helping clients harness emerging technologies to improve communications, automate workflows, and elevate creative expression. Her approach blends systems thinking, cultural strategy, and community care with spiritual intelligence and deep operational insight.
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Katoya holds a B.S. in Business Management and Marketing and an IT Project Management Certificate, both from Western Governors University. From 2016 to 2022, she served in multiple roles at the YMCA of Greater Seattle, beginning as a lifeguard and rising to Senior Branch Director of Aquatics and Facilities. She pioneered culturally responsive aquatics programs, led regional staff development, and managed operations across branches and camps. Her national and global collaborations with YUSA earned her recognition for her leadership in DEI training, grant reviewing, and the creation of safety initiatives such as the Safely Around Water program. She also served for multiple years as Co-Chair and logistical support for the Emerging Multicultural Leadership Experience and was a featured speaker at the YMCA's national conference, further elevating her impact on leadership development and equity initiatives across the Y network.
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As Chief Operating Officer of Community Passageways, Katoya co-led strategic vision and built out key departments including HR, IT, Finance, Communications, Compliance, and Community Engagement. She was also known for her work in strategic communications during this time, contributing articles to KUOW that addressed sensitive community issues and elevated local perspectives in times of crisis and transition. Her work laid the operational foundation for one of the country’s most recognized youth justice organizations.
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Katoya recently rejoined the Board of Directors at The Sophia Way, where she previously served as Vice President and Governance Committee Chair until taking a three-month personal sabbatical. She also sits on the boards of SPLASHForward, KEEP (Kienan Ellis Educational Project), and the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce.
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She is a multi-time founder and convener, having co-founded the Together We End Gun Violence conference in Washington State and Healfulness, a wellness conference centering women's health. Her founding work often bridges public health, community wellness, and systems design with a focus on elevating underrepresented voices and collective healing.
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She served as the Campaign Manager, Creative Director, and Line Producer for the Beloved Campaign—an arts-based public health initiative funded by the City of Seattle and King County governments to reframe gun violence as a matter of community care and healing. She oversaw all aspects of implementation, filled critical gaps across production, coordination, and storytelling, and ensured the campaign stayed rooted in its core message: “everyone lost to gun violence is someone’s beloved.” Under her leadership, the campaign mobilized over 50 local creatives to produce multimedia content, public art installations, and narrative tools that amplified survivors, youth, and community voices while bridging grassroots experience with public systems for lasting impact.
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Before 2015, Katoya built a diverse career across education, finance, and operations. She worked as a math tutor, paraprofessional in Seattle Public Schools, school support staff for elementary and middle schools, a leadership camp counselor for Mt. Adams Leadership Camp, sponsored by the Association of Washington School Principals through the Association of Washington Student Leaders, and in various finance roles including account executive and lending specialist with a focus on operations and refinancing. She also coached high school swim teams and boys’ water polo in both the Seattle and Bellevue school districts, bringing mentorship, discipline, and strategic focus to student athletes. Additionally, she held roles at institutions like Costco and other small businesses, bringing hands-on insight into team dynamics, client service, and logistics.
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Through ToyBox, she has partnered with a multitude of Seattle-based small businesses and supported the foundation work of professional athletes, helping them operationalize their visions for community impact and philanthropy. Her first independent production under ToyBox, WTF is a Femcee, featured Jean Grae and spotlighted women in hip-hop and the arts, setting the tone for the firm’s bold creative direction. She also previously supported the foundation work of professional athletes, helping them operationalize their visions for community impact and philanthropy.
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Outside of her professional work, Katoya is a passionate home cook, garden enthusiast, and aspiring homemaker influencer. She finds joy in cultivating houseplants, designing nourishing environments, and crafting soulful dishes with garden-grown ingredients. A lifelong learner and tech lover, she also invests in cryptocurrency and explores the intersections of ancestral wisdom and emerging innovation.
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At her core, Katoya believes that sustainable change is built—not wished for—and that Black women and communities of color deserve systems that reflect their brilliance, not just their labor.
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From Theory to Practice
As a strategist and former Chief Operating Officer of a nationally recognized justice reform organization, Katoya understands both the challenges and opportunities of community-led work. Her approach blends structure with soul—centering relationships, data, and design to drive lasting change.
In 2024, she co-authored “Codeveloping Theories of Change for Improved Community-Based Violence Intervention Evaluation,” published in the American Journal of Public Health. This research, grounded in collaborative efforts across Washington state, reframes how violence prevention initiatives are evaluated—by aligning community voice, structural root causes, and healing-centered outcomes within a shared theory of change.
Through ToyBox, Katoya continues to partner with organizations, artists, and visionaries who are reimagining systems—and brings the tools, strategy, and insight to help them build what comes next.
🎬 Featured In: Drowning in Silence
Katoya Palmer appears in the award-winning documentary Drowning in Silence, a powerful exploration of grief, water safety, and healing through community and personal resilience.The film follows the journey of filmmaker Chezik Tsunoda after the loss of her son to drowning, and uplifts the stories of individuals and families working to prevent similar tragedies.
Katoya shares her experience as a Louisiana native discussing the Shreveport Six; an aquatics leader, swim coach, and advocate for expanding access to water safety and education across all communities. Her voice in the film underscores her long-standing commitment to systems change—not just in boardrooms and policy—but in the everyday spaces where life, loss, and leadership intersect.
📚 Published Work: Digital Equity & Social Justice
In recognition of World YMCA Social Justice Day 2021, Katoya Palmer contributed to a global reflection on equity in the digital economy. Her article, “The Digital Economy Can Uplift or Isolate Us,” explores how access to technology and opportunity shapes pathways to liberation, particularly for historically marginalized communities navigating education, entrepreneurship, and public systems. In this piece, Katoya speaks to the urgency of bridging digital divides—not just through tools, but through culturally responsive leadership and policy.
Katoya Raquell Palmer is a systems strategist, cultural architect, and the founder of ToyBox Consulting & Management, LLC. Her work centers on healing-informed leadership, public infrastructure rooted in equity, and mobilizing cross-sector coalitions for social impact.
While serving as Chief Operating Officer at Community Passageways, Katoya co-founded the Together We End Gun Violence initiative—beginning with a groundbreaking 2022 symposium at Seattle University. Framed as a public health response to a growing epidemic, the event united statewide leaders from grassroots organizers to government officials in one of the first convenings of its kind in Washington.
Katoya played a leading role in conceptualizing the symposium’s purpose, curating its agenda, and coordinating a multi-sector planning team. The event featured remarks from Governor Jay Inslee, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and included panels on community-led safety, public health, domestic violence, and sustainable funding strategies. Katoya herself moderated the high-stakes "Funding the Work" panel, helping frame the dialogue around braided, long-term investment in violence prevention.
Since then, the symposium has expanded into a statewide movement, including events in Tacoma and a two-day summit at Lumen Field, co-hosted by King County and the Seattle Seahawks. The initiative has gained national attention and helped secure broader investments in community safety.
Through ToyBox Consulting, Katoya continues to develop public strategy, build organizational ecosystems, and design transformative experiences that bridge vision and execution—with deep roots in the communities that need it most.
Katoya Palmer served as a co-facilitator for the King County Government’s Regional Community Safety & Well-Being Workgroup—an ambitious, multi-phase initiative led by Public Health – Seattle & King County and Zero Youth Detention (ZYD). Launched in response to the region’s declaration of youth gun violence as a public health crisis, this initiative brought together over 20 municipal departments, community-based organizations, and lived experience leaders to co-create a comprehensive public safety strategy rooted in equity and healing.
As a co-facilitator, Katoya helped lead interdisciplinary workgroups composed of government officials, service providers, youth leaders, and community representatives. These workgroups were tasked with developing shared goals, values, and strategic directions across five key domains: Education, Workforce Development, Juvenile Justice, Health & Human Services, and Community-Led Public Safety. Her facilitation ensured psychological safety, promoted co-governance, and prioritized the inclusion of those most directly impacted by violence and systemic harm.
This work laid the foundation for King County’s “Go-First Strategy”—a coordinated response designed to deliver immediate, wraparound services for youth and families most at risk. Katoya’s leadership in this initiative reflected her deep commitment to participatory governance, systems transformation, and culturally grounded facilitation. Her role was central to building trust across sectors, aligning shared values, and supporting a regional movement toward safety and well-being that is community-defined and sustainable.
Research & Impact: The Black Brilliance Research Project
As Research Project Manager with King County Equity Now’s Black Brilliance Research Project, Katoya Palmer co-led one of the largest Black community-led research initiatives in the region. This historic project mobilized over 100 community researchers to gather, analyze, and uplift data rooted in the lived experiences of Black residents across Seattle and King County.
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Katoya's role included overseeing research teams, managing timelines and deliverables, facilitating data integrity processes, and ensuring community accountability in both methodology and reporting. She helped bridge grassroots knowledge with institutional pathways—supporting participatory budgeting efforts, policy advocacy, and resource equity campaigns grounded in the project’s findings.
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The impact of this work was far-reaching. The team co-produced a 1,000+ page report that informed the City of Seattle’s participatory budgeting framework, redefined what public safety could look like for Black communities, and sparked ongoing dialogue about how governments must share power with those most impacted by systemic harm.
This project exemplifies Katoya’s commitment to community-led inquiry as both a tool of liberation and a model for ethical, equity-centered governance.
Producing the Movement
As Creative Producer and Project Director, Katoya Palmer led the development of Heroes of This Hell (Anti-Violence the Science)—a multimedia anthem born out of the Beloved Project. Drawing from her deep roots in community-centered storytelling and cultural strategy, Katoya shaped the vision and sound of the project from the ground up. She provided creative direction during the beat selection process, worked hands-on with the composer Beezie to ensure the music moved intentionally through distinct artistic segments, and crafted a sonic structure that symbolically honored each performer’s unique style and message.
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Katoya co-curated the artist lineup: Beezie 2000, Papa Black Davinchi, Black Stax, Mike Jack 3200, and Tia Nache; ensuring diverse voices were centered around the shared theme of anti-violence as a collective science. She also designed the cover art and led the development of the promotional video to visually align with the project's emotional and symbolic resonance. Her leadership helped translate a community-driven call for healing into a powerful and purposeful creative work.