Carmel, California, United States
Catherine Stihler, OBE, FRSE, is a nonprofit chief executive and advancement leader with 25+ years of experience growing mission‑driven organizations across housing, education, and open knowledge. She is known for building high‑impact partnerships, mobilizing philanthropic and public funding, and helping boards and executives turn ambitious social missions into measurable community outcomes. Catherine currently serves as CEO of Habitat for Humanity Monterey Bay, where she leads strategy, fundraising, and community partnerships to expand affordable homeownership and sustainable housing in high‑cost California communities. In this role, she works closely with donors, volunteers, public agencies, and local leaders to deliver practical, community‑driven solutions to the housing crisis. Previously, Catherine was CEO of Creative Commons and the Open Knowledge Foundation, leading global nonprofits focused on access to knowledge, digital rights, and public‑interest technology. Across these roles, she has strengthened governance, stewarded major foundation and institutional funders, and built cross‑sector coalitions that amplified mission and impact. Earlier in her career, Catherine served as a Member of the European Parliament for Scotland, experience that now informs her nonprofit leadership on policy, advocacy, and systems‑level change. She continues to advise mission‑driven organizations through Veda Insights LLC and board roles, bringing a nonprofit lens to innovation, governance, and long‑term organizational resilience.
♦ Led an international organization that sets the global standard in open licensing by making Creative Commons products accessible through training, certifications, and Global Summits. ♦ Established the global standard in content sharing with 3 billion pieces of online content under a Creative Commons license. ♦ Contributed and supported an official global network of 700 individual and organizational partners that contribute to making knowledge and creativity accessible internationally. ♦ Initiated partnership with Public Knowledge to found the Movement for a Better Internet which includes 70 global partners focused on elevating the public interest in internet and AI policy making. ♦ Developed 30 team members focused on making Creative Commons products more accessible globally. ♦ Secured $4M for an Open Climate Campaign and $1M to focus on Open Climate data by taking established relationships to strategic partnerships with research organizations committed to open access. ♦ Drove a global public policy focus on the EU AI Act winning recognition for Open Source while developing partnerships on Generative AI, working to secure consent, compensation, choice, and credit for creators whilst expanding the Commons. ♦ Increased global engagement through policy interventions, communication with regulators, international speeches, press coverage, and social media engagement through a collaboration with national publications like Business Insider and grassroots media efforts. ♦ Represented the organization as a member of the Governor of Pennsylvania’s AI taskforce and World Economic Forum AI Governance Alliance. ♦ Improved fiscal security and decision-making by operationalizing a new strategy and securing additional funding through foundations with $9M from Arcadia, $2.7M from Gates, $1M from Robert Wood Johnson, $1M from McGovern, $2M from Hewlett, $600K from CZI and $500K from Filecoin.