Leon County, since 1850.
Six generations in Leon County, a career in industry and energy, and a short list of things that have to get fixed.
Kathaleen “Kat” Wall was born and raised in Centerville, in Leon County, in the Redland Community where her family has lived since 1850. She grew up absorbing the values of hard work, close-knit families, vibrant faith and helping others, the heart of what people call the Heart of Texas.
Kat graduated from Texas A&M University, where she majored in Industrial Distribution. Her engineering background, her love of people and her organizational skills let her expand her reach quickly. She played a key role in building Texas Memory Systems from a niche player into an industry leader, a technology company IBM eventually acquired for its portfolio.
Today Kat is an energy executive with Texas Thorium, working to bring natural gas power to Texans and to pioneer safe nuclear solutions. She collaborates with Texas A&M to develop new ways to generate power using thorium, which is safer and cleaner than uranium.
Along the way she never lost sight of the values she learned in the Heart of Texas. She helped establish the Grace Hopper Scholarship at Houston Christian University, and she has been recognized by the University of Texas Health Science Center for her investments in adult stem cell research, advancing neurological medicine while sparing the lives of unborn children.
Even while expanding her reach in business, technology and philanthropy, Kat has led grassroots movements that made Texas better. She has spearheaded statewide pro-life initiatives and was key in keeping boys out of girls’ sports in Texas.
What she’s doing now is harder and less visible. The counties that produce most of what this state eats and drinks have the least representation in the rooms where their water and their power get decided. So she works those rooms: an honest beef market, water infrastructure that actually gets built, the nuclear technology this country invented and then walked away from, rural roads and lines that get their share, and decisions that stay close to home.
Stand with her.
Rural Texas gets heard when enough of it is standing in the same place. Tell us where you are and how you want to help, and you’ll hear from someone organizing near you.