Kate Ansorge serves as Managing Director of Real Estate Solutions-Chicago for IFF where she oversees a team of ten serving the greater Chicago and Milwaukee metro areas. Kate and her team build, move, and expand facilities that support non-profits and the communities they serve, working on a diverse portfolio of projects that include health clinics, early child care education centers, food pantries, community centers, emergency housing, and more.
Kate and her team deliver real estate technical assistance to equitable Transit Oriented Development (eTOD) projects with Elevated Chicago, a multi-sector collaborative that promotes more equitable development of public spaces, buildings, and vacant land around Chicago’s public transit infrastructure. She also co-chairs the Elevated Chicago Capital and Programs Working Group, which aligns capital and technical assistance to a pipeline of eTOD projects that prioritize investments in people, places, and processes. The group focuses on those affected by displacement and other forms of inequity in the built environment by working in ways that shift power, spark development, and engage communities.
Additionally, Kate provides technical assistance to Chicago Cultural Treasures for BIPOC-led arts and culture non-profits; Quality Facilities for All that serves early childhood education home and center operators; and Stronger Nonprofits Initiative for BIPOC-led and serving non-profits. Kate has worked with Greater Milwaukee Foundation and Chicago Public Schools to lead early childhood initiatives to increase access and quality of education for children ages 0 to 6 years old and currently serves on an Illinois Full Day Kindergarten Task Force to support the implementation of a statewide full day kindergarten program.
Kate joined IFF in 2008 and has over 20 years’ experience in nonprofit and affordable housing development. Her project management experience in Chicago includes the development of a new
construction early childhood education center for Little Angels Learning Center in Englewood, Nourishing Hope’s food pantry in Lakeview, and Foundation for Homan Square’s multi-tenant Nichols Tower in North Lawndale. She has worked with non-profits to obtain and close $100 million in federal and State of Illinois New Markets Tax Credit allocation including the Lawndale Christian Health Center’s $24 million health and fitness center.
Kate has a Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College and a Master of Urban Planning from University of Illinois – Chicago. She serves on the board of NeighborSpace, a nonprofit urban land trust in Chicago that preserves and sustains gardens on behalf of dedicated community groups, and Concordia Place, a non-profit that disrupts social inequities through access to top-quality education and enrichment, serving young children, teens, and their families.
