Katie Renner Olse’s impactful leadership in child and family well-being for both the public and private sector has left an indelible mark on communities across the country. Before joining Sellers Dorsey, Katie served as the CEO of the Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services (TACFS) where she supported the work of community organizations serving children and families in the child welfare system. There, she spearheaded critical initiatives and championed system reform efforts including oversight of the nation’s largest state network of child, youth, and family-serving provider organizations. Under her leadership, she launched the Texas Center of Child and Family Studies (TCCFS), which has become a model for supporting private child and youth-serving providers in other states and has grown to support hundreds of providers within the mental health, juvenile justice, and child welfare arena.

Katie also served as the President of the National Organization of State Associations for Children (NOSAC) where she worked with top leaders in state child welfare, juvenile justice, and mental health associations. Prior to her experience at NOSAC, Katie served as Deputy Commissioner for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), a state-based agency with over 12,000 employees responsible for protecting Texas children from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. DFPS operates five major programs including Child and Adult Protective Services, Child Protective Investigations, Prevention and Early Intervention, and Statewide Intake.

Additionally, Katie was the Chief of Staff for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (THHSC), an agency within the Texas Health and Human Services System that has hundreds of programs helping more than 7.5 million Texans each month live healthier lives. THHSC provides a wide range of services to Texans including assistance with aging, finances, food, mental health, substance use, and more. Before her tenure at THHSC, Katie was the Senior Policy Advisor to the Executive Commissioner for DFPS, and the former Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services.

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Karen has held several executive positions for major health plans across the U.S. Before joining Sellers Dorsey, Karen was the President and CEO of Meridian Health Plan for four years. In this role, she oversaw Illinois’ Medicaid contracts and was responsible for the execution of all program requirements, contract compliance, legislative strategy, and new program development. During her time at Meridian Health Plan, Karen was an appointed member of the Medicaid Directors Medicaid Advisory Committee (MAC). Before working at Meridian Health Plan, Karen served as Vice President of Medicaid Operations at BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois for four years, where she oversaw Medicaid program contracts. She was also Vice President of Business Development at UnitedHealthcare, where she was responsible for all Medicaid managed care contracts and stakeholder relationship management. Karen has also held C-level positions at Amerigroup and Bluegrass Family Health.

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