Congratulations to Katie Osterhage, UW ALACRITY Center Manager, who has received the UW Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Collaborative Impact Staff Award. The award recognizes her valuable efforts toward supporting the department’s mission and upholding its core values of collaboration, continuous learning and mentorship, and integrity and accountability.
As Center Manager, Katie holds together a center of 12 core staff and faculty and 7 teams totaling more than 40 members—and does it by building genuine collaboration, not just managing logistics. She draws out each team member’s unique strengths while keeping everyone focused on shared goals, and she makes sure every voice, staff or faculty, has a place at the table. She recently led an effort with our cost analyst to develop representative salary and benefit estimates across the center’s work, guiding the team through an unfamiliar and complex topic while still delivering on time.
Katie also opens each weekly meeting with optional “moments of joy,” celebrating professional and personal wins in a way that lets people show up as their whole selves. She provides mentorship and research and administrative support to UWAC members and external partners alike, consistently connecting people with complementary interests to deepen collaboration and support professional development. From cost models to birdwatching-and-pizza outings, Katie has been central to building a culture of trust, communication, and support at the UW ALACRITY Center.
Please join us in congratulating Katie on this well-deserved recognition!