STakeholderS' - Doczine
STakeholderS' - Doczine STakeholderS' - Doczine
herlife | inspirationsKateHedgemanby ann e. butenasphotography by jill richardsonhair and make up by jennifer mccarthy nortonclothing on this page by evoke style, albany, nyWhile her list of academic and professional honors,accomplishments, accolades and distinguishedachievements, stacked one upon the other, couldreach tremendous heights, it is her gentle humility paired witha curious intellect and passion for community that truly endearsothers to Catherine “Kate” Hedgeman, Attorney at Law. She is awoman who lives with purpose and on purpose, fully aware of herpath in life, yet she remains open to whatever doors in life inviteher to cross their thresholds, bearing new ideas, challenges andinitiatives. When opportunity knocks, Kate never complains aboutthe noise.Of course, there is a lot of noise going on in Kate’s life thesedays. However, it’s not the type of noise one would usually expectto surround a tenacious and driven lawyer with a passion for servingothers. No, the noise that surrounds Kate today consists of the earlymorning cries or the afternoon coos of her newborn son, Brendan,who came into Kate’s world on August 20, 2012.As I spoke with Kate over the phone one recent afternoon, sheexuded her usual professional prowess and confident demeanor,engaging in intellectual dialogue well-suited to her calling, yet shehad a natural ability to simultaneously assuage the temperamentalcries of a fussy baby. As one who had three babies in diapers at thesame time, I am all-too-familiar with the demands it places upon oneemotionally, mentally and physically. Yet Kate has steadfastly proventhat no matter what circumstances, blessings, challenges or opportunitiesare given to her, she handles them with grace, class, strength ofcharacter and immeasurable fortitude in an effort to give more than100 percent to whomever and whatever inspire her the most.This driven and determined Albany native graduated fromUnion College magna cum laude with a degree in Political Sciencewith Department Honors in 1996. From there, she forged acareer on Capitol Hill in government relations. It was during hertime in D.C. that she focused her sights on becoming a lawyer, andsubsequently returned to Albany to commence her graduate studiesat Albany Law School, receiving her Juris Doctor in 2000. While inlaw school, she was the associate editor for the Albany Law Reviewand was also awarded the Dominick Gabrielli Award for excellencein Appellate Moot Court.“When I was younger, I embraced the idea of becoming alawyer as a means to an end,” she expressed, her goals focused atthe time on government relations, whether becoming a lobbyist orrunning for office. After a brief pause, she jokingly added, “Whomakeup by jennifer mccarthy nortongrows up to deliberately say she wants dress to become and jewelry a lobbyist?” courtesy ofNevertheless, she was a New apropos York lobbyist prom and from bridal, 2002 albany, to 2007 nyaproposprom.com14 HERLIFEnewyork.com
Working to WooNew York’sBrightest Brainswhere she worked as an associate with some of the most highlyregarded and prestigious law firms in the city, counseling a host ofclients from the healthcare sector to those in telecommunications.Her professional designations and affiliations are many. Kate hasbeen admitted to practice before the courts in the State of New York,U.S. District Courts, Northern District of New York and SouthernDistrict of New York. She is also admitted to practice before the Districtof Columbia Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Court, Districtof Columbia and the United States Supreme Court. She is a memberof the New York State Bar Association, the District of ColumbiaBar Association and the Capital District Women’s Bar Association.During those years as a lobbyist, sincere inspiration, whichtends to follow this eager young counselor, knocked louder thanusual and an idea which had been lingering in the back of hermind suddenly began to take shape.“I formed a professional networking group for young professionalsunder the age of 40 called GenNEXT, a business council of theAlbany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce,” she explained. “It was away for young professionals to become actively involved in the community,as well as to learn valuable business networking skills.”After working for eight years as a trial lawyer, Kate began tolose some of the intense drive typically associated with that arena.In short, she was becoming burned out. That area of the law hadlost some of its meaning for her. So in January 2007, she establishedher own private law practice, Catherine Hedgeman, Esq. /HedgemanLaw in Albany, focusing on commercial litigation, real estate,government relations and non-profit law.Shortly thereafter, following on the heels of GenNEXT, wasa more ambitious undertaking ready to take wings. “When I wasoverseeing the aspects of GenNEXT, so many other young professionalsapproached me wanting to know how they could becomemore involved in the community,” Kate said.Kate realized that opportunities for service and philanthropywere a means by which to revitalize the appeal of the community,putting an end to the so-called “brain drain” that had starved theCapital region of tremendous talent, energy and enthusiasm.“The GenNEXT mission was great, but it was more businessfocusedand lacked the elements of service and community,” Katestressed. “We wanted to incorporate more philanthropy into ourmission and vision.”As a result, The Stakeholders, Inc., a non-profit organization,was established in 2008, based upon the fundamental belief thatpeople are the key to the sustainability of the Capital Region. Alongwith several friends and colleagues, Kate took the business aspectHERLIFEnewyork.com 15
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herlife | inspirationsKateHedgemanby ann e. butenasphotography by jill richardsonhair and make up by jennifer mccarthy nortonclothing on this page by evoke style, albany, nyWhile her list of academic and professional honors,accomplishments, accolades and distinguishedachievements, stacked one upon the other, couldreach tremendous heights, it is her gentle humility paired witha curious intellect and passion for community that truly endearsothers to Catherine “Kate” Hedgeman, Attorney at Law. She is awoman who lives with purpose and on purpose, fully aware of herpath in life, yet she remains open to whatever doors in life inviteher to cross their thresholds, bearing new ideas, challenges andinitiatives. When opportunity knocks, Kate never complains aboutthe noise.Of course, there is a lot of noise going on in Kate’s life thesedays. However, it’s not the type of noise one would usually expectto surround a tenacious and driven lawyer with a passion for servingothers. No, the noise that surrounds Kate today consists of the earlymorning cries or the afternoon coos of her newborn son, Brendan,who came into Kate’s world on August 20, 2012.As I spoke with Kate over the phone one recent afternoon, sheexuded her usual professional prowess and confident demeanor,engaging in intellectual dialogue well-suited to her calling, yet shehad a natural ability to simultaneously assuage the temperamentalcries of a fussy baby. As one who had three babies in diapers at thesame time, I am all-too-familiar with the demands it places upon oneemotionally, mentally and physically. Yet Kate has steadfastly proventhat no matter what circumstances, blessings, challenges or opportunitiesare given to her, she handles them with grace, class, strength ofcharacter and immeasurable fortitude in an effort to give more than100 percent to whomever and whatever inspire her the most.This driven and determined Albany native graduated fromUnion College magna cum laude with a degree in Political Sciencewith Department Honors in 1996. From there, she forged acareer on Capitol Hill in government relations. It was during hertime in D.C. that she focused her sights on becoming a lawyer, andsubsequently returned to Albany to commence her graduate studiesat Albany Law School, receiving her Juris Doctor in 2000. While inlaw school, she was the associate editor for the Albany Law Reviewand was also awarded the Dominick Gabrielli Award for excellencein Appellate Moot Court.“When I was younger, I embraced the idea of becoming alawyer as a means to an end,” she expressed, her goals focused atthe time on government relations, whether becoming a lobbyist orrunning for office. After a brief pause, she jokingly added, “Whomakeup by jennifer mccarthy nortongrows up to deliberately say she wants dress to become and jewelry a lobbyist?” courtesy ofNevertheless, she was a New apropos York lobbyist prom and from bridal, 2002 albany, to 2007 nyaproposprom.com14 HERLIFEnewyork.com
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