Meet Fruitful’s Founder

Kate Harrington-Rosen (she/they) is a certified leadership coach and conflict transformation guide who helps queer leaders create abundant, purpose-driven lives and careers by aligning their choices with their values.

Kate founded Fruitful Coaching and Consulting with the goal of supporting queer and trans leaders, and the teams they lead, to thrive: not despite the messy, experimental, complex challenges of leading with their values at the center, but because of them.

Kate is an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation, a trained mediator through Chicago's Center for Conflict Resolution, a community-based transformative justice practitioner, and a certified End-of-Life doula. They hold a BA in Women and Gender Studies from McGill University and an MS in Communications from Northwestern University. If you see her in the wild, ask her about the queer co-operative living space she co-founded, what she’s reading, or what name she goes by when she moonlights as a poet :) Better yet, tell them your favorite place to dance to Chicago House music.

Services
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  • Where you place your attention shapes the life you grow. When you commit to coaching, you commit to a rare kind of loving, sustained attention to your life and leadership.
    You’ll see what becomes possible through intentional, incremental change.

  • How you show up in daily choices and routines becomes how you lead—and what you leave behind. Coaching is a practice space: we get clear on where you want to be, then experiment with small, focused shifts—always with curiosity, not judgment. You learn to try, adjust, and try again, building confidence in your ability to act and create change.

  • Hustle culture trains leaders to choose speed over depth and progress over intention. In coaching, we practice a sustainable pace, divesting from hustle and prioritizing relationships over outcomes. Rooted in your deepest values, we reconnect with your definition of success and “enough.” Your priorities sharpen, and your plans feel realistic and energizing, not overwhelming.

  • There is room for this growth to be messy, honest, and on its own timeline. In coaching, I offer space and questions to help you hear what matters most, and I reflect back what I’m noticing in real time. You start to recognize patterns in your thinking and trust your internal voice.

  • Critical hope faces systemic harm honestly while holding possibility for real, liberatory change. My approach makes room for what you’ve lived—and asks what repair could look like, what you can control, and what options that opens.
    You feel seen in your full experience and supported toward growth and healing.

  • We don’t have to do the work of growing, healing, and changing—we get to. In coaching, I bring gratitude in as both a mindset and a grounding practice.
    You begin to notice—and savor—small moments of calm, connection, beauty, and success in your day-to-day life and work.

  • Mutual, constructive feedback builds relationships rooted in honesty, trust, and resilience. In our work together, I’ll offer warm, direct reflections—naming strengths and patterns that may be holding you back—and I’ll regularly invite your feedback on what’s working (and what isn’t).
    You see yourself more clearly and build confidence asking for what you need—without risking the relationship.

Guiding Values

Note: Many of my core values were introduced to me by adrienne maree brown. My understanding and practice of them is deeply informed by her work.

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Background

  • the power of seeing each individual as the expert in their own life

  • the impacts of systemic harm and oppression, and how these forces shape our realities, our sense of what’s possible, and our approaches to conflict

  • the often huge gap between what we expect of leaders and the leadership tools, skills, and resources they have access to, resulting in teams and organizations that feel disconnected, burnt out, and tense

  • the challenges of staying connected to our most deeply held values and convictions within organizational cultures that prioritize speed, profit, and growth over everything

Kate’s leadership journey began in direct service, supporting adults impacted by sexual and gender-based violence, youth impacted by human trafficking, and HIV-positive trans adults experiencing homelessness. These experiences taught them fundamental lessons that continue to be at the foundation of their approach to leadership work:

As Kate progressed in her own leadership journey, ultimately becoming the first-ever Director for Equity Outreach and Education at Northwestern University, she experienced first hand the challenges of maintaining a connection with her most authentic, deeply held values while “succeeding” by traditional metrics. In a culture that rewards overwork, urgency, and constant productivity, it was easy, almost encouraged, to become disconnected from herself. And nearly impossible to lead with integrity while navigating institutional pressure to work harder, faster, and to prioritize scale over relationships. After leaving her leadership role in search of a career, and a life, more aligned with her values of emergence, gratitude, slowness, and moving at the speed of trust, Kate founded Fruitful Coaching and Consulting on these core values.

Community

Collaboration

Co-Creation

Community Collaboration Co-Creation

Kind Words From Clients

Kind Words From Clients

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  • “Through coaching, I strengthened my ability to trust my own read of a situation while staying open to new information. In my work that shows up as stronger decision-making, clearer boundaries, and more intentional collaboration. ”

  • “Having someone else take my dream seriously, asking me straight-forward, grounded questions, and helping me break a huge journey down into tiny steps helped me navigate my fears and imposter syndrome. Kate helped me cultivate the self-trust I need to move in the direction of my dreams.”

  • “Kate’s ability to ask unbiased, genuinely curious questions showed me how effective that approach is, and it’s changed how I communicate with others”

  • “There is no chance that I would be where I am in my business without Kate. Without her calm, clear, grounded guidance and accountability, I would still be dreaming without ever taking action.”

  • “Kate is a world class listener and advisor. Kate's coaching style is so adaptable to every unique scenario to provide the right combination of freedom and structure to aid your self-reflection and solution exploration. This has changed the way I show up as a educator and mentor. I move more slowly. I focus in deeper. I engage more often with nuance and curiosity.”

  • “Through her thoughtful structure and the precision of her questions, I became more internally organized and more self-trusting. I’m clearer in my decision-making, more grounded in difficult conversations, and better able to navigate relationships at work.”

Explore services + find your best fit

Fruitful Offerings

Through leadership coaching, conflict transformation, and customized, engaging education, we help individuals and teams make clearer decisions, navigate hard conversations, and create healthier ways of working together.

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