No Ceiling: Katie Towns

Katie is acting director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. As part of the leadership team, she’s spent the past year-plus educating the community on staying healthy and safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The path to this role is one she didn’t expect, but now she says it’s her calling. As she vies for the director position, Katie says she’s learning to embrace her own style of leadership while also raising two young kids as a single mom. She says taking care of herself is one way she’s made it through the past year.

On Being Present
“Our brains are on overload. We’ve all been given a lot to deal with at any given time. And figuring out how to manage those things within the structure of being present and actually focusing on the child or the task at hand rather than trying to do both – and do it well – has sort of stuck with me as a way to handle things moving forward.”