Quick Facts
Biography
Katherine August-deWilde is an American business executive, board member and philanthropist. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in history from Goucher College and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Career
From 1969-1973 she held senior staff positions for members of Congress.
She served as a consultant at McKinsey & Company from 1975-1978 in London and San Francisco. She was Director of Finance for Itel Corporation from 1978-1979. In 1979 she became Treasurer of PMI Mortgage Insurance Company, later serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 1982-1985.
In 1985, August-deWilde became one of the early leaders of First Republic, a San Francisco-based, bi-coastal bank and wealth management company offering personal banking, business banking, and trust and wealth management services. August-deWilde joined First Republic as Chief Financial Officer in 1985 and co-led the bank for 30 years, serving as Chief Operating Officer from 1996 to 2014 and President from 2007 to 2015. In 2016, she became Vice Chair.
In 2007, Merrill Lynch purchased First Republic at 3.7X book value. In 2010, August-deWilde co-led a management buy-back with private equity partners at 1X book value.
August-deWilde also serves on the boards of TriNet, Sunrun, Equilar, and Eventbrite.
Charitable and educational activities
She is a member of the Advisory Council of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Advisory Council of the Stanford Center on Longevity, Catalyst Corporate Board Resource, and The Committee of 200. She previously served as Vice Chair of Town School for Boys, and as a trustee of the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. She was a member of the policy advisory board of the Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics, University of California, Berkeley.
In 2008, she and her husband David deWilde seeded a professorship at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in honor of Professor George Parker.
Honors
- 1985, Working Woman, “The Breakthrough Generation: 73 Women Ready to Run Corporate America”
- 2003, 2005, 2006, San Francisco Business Times, “Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business”
- 2008, Legal Momentum, Women of Achievement Award
- 2008 - 2013, San Francisco Business Times, “Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business”
- 2012, Women’s Initiative for Self-Employment, Founder’s Award
- 2012, Directors & Boards, “Directors to Watch”
- 2015, Private Asset Management, “50 Most Influential Women in Private Wealth”
Gender and equity advocacy
She is an angel investor with the women’s investment group, Broadway Angels, and has been on the board of the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University.
In 2012, August-deWilde and David deWilde created the LGBT Summer Fellowship at University of Virginia School of Law to support outstanding law students working on legal matters of national and cultural importance to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
In 2008, the couple, both graduates of Stanford University, created the Katherine and David deWilde Faculty/Scholar fund to support work on entrepreneurship in developing economies. In 2015 they created the Katherine and David deWilde Endowed and Expendable Funds for Women’s Achievement.
Personal life
She is married to David deWilde and lives in San Francisco. The couple has four children.