Outstanding Women in Business: McEvoy pulled off the celebration of the century

Photo | Matt Wright Kate McEvoy

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By Susan Shalhoub

City pride drives the volunteerism of Kate McEvoy, who grew up on Main South’s Beaver Street near Clark University, even when that means taking on projects she knows she shouldn’t, like the Worcester Tercentennial Celebration. It may not be her favorite community project, but it is the one of which she is most proud.

“How could we not celebrate the city’s 300th anniversary?” said the fifth-generation Worcester resident. She became a Tercentennial Celebration Committee co-chair, along with Kimberly Salmon, vice president of community relations at Hanover Insurance Group.

Already-tight community connections meant McEvoy was able to readily put the call out for donations and volunteers, but COVID still complicated planning for the weekend of June 10-12, 2022. Even with $1 million raised, the celebration almost didn’t happen due to pandemic obstacles, namely, a truncated timeline of about nine months.

The celebration involved a Canal District Stroll; Polar Park baseball stadium fireworks; a downtown road race and parade; festival on Worcester Common; Boston Pops concert featuring Brian McKnight; and a family outing with the Worcester Bravehearts baseball team.

“It was so gratifying, and so much work,” she said of the weekend, marking Worcester’s official establishment as a town on June 14, 1722. (It became a city on Leap Day, February 29, 1848.)

McEvoy admits getting emotional when the fireworks took to the sky at Polar Park.

“I actually cried. This was a district no one was investing in 20 years ago. Now we are in the Worcester Red Sox stadium filled with 7,000 people. It was remarkable,” she said.

Former Worcester city manager Michael O’Brien said the same of McEvoy.

“Kate is an amazing talent. ‘Ain’t no mountain high enough’ is an understatement, and she brings it all to the dance, every cause and every effort she commits to,” O’Brien said. “She has powers of persuasion and a positive, can-do energy that gets folks all fired up to get there. I would follow her into battle anywhere.”

McEvoy’s dedication to her city is longstanding, and runs deep. It has coincided with roles as vice president corporate relations, UMass Memorial Health, and before that, vice president of Central & Western Massachusetts with Harvard Pilgrim Health from 2011 to 2019. McEvoy has also worked for Worcester insurer Fallon Health and Worcester Magazine.

Each position has allowed her deeper engagement with the pulse of the community and a broader network.

“I never thought I’d be in sales,” said McEvoy. “I went to Worcester Magazine and loved it. I was able to build great relationships. Fallon then asked me to run their foundation … I loved my time there.”

She was on the transition team for Gov. Charlie Baker when he first got elected in 2014, and she has been a key player in other state, regional, and local initiatives. Currently, McEvoy sits on the board of Worcester State Foundation and the regional board for Berkshire Bank. She is a corporator for Greater Worcester Community Foundation, Worcester Art Museum, the EcoTarium, and YWCA Central Massachusetts.

An especially important to McEvoy now is smart growth. She applauds the work of the Greater Worcester Land Trust.

“What makes Worcester fabulous is that it’s city and suburbia all in one,” she said.

She encourages strengthening the balance in services, to keep residents in Worcester throughout their lives. If public schools aren’t up to par and private tuition is exorbitantly priced, families will move out when their child is in fourth grade, she said.

“This can’t just be a city for young people,” she said.