The Stakeholder

Growing up, Kate Hedgeman got a sense of service thanks to her father, an Albany police officer. “It’s one of the top ways you can give back to your community,” she says, “and it’s a pretty thankless job.”

One memory stands out: When Hedgeman was 8, by her estimation, she and her father were eating in a restaurant when a man had a heart attack in the parking lot. “[My father] got up from the table and started CPR until the fire department and EMS came,” she recalls. “It was one of those things where I probably shouldn’t have been watching, but I was … and he saved his life.”

The act may have had something to do with her mindset as an undergrad, when Hedgeman envisioned herself in politics while working for a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. Getting a J.D. was a natural next step. “It doesn’t hurt to have a law degree if you’re going into government relations and drafting legislation,” she says. 

But law school led her back home where, in 2004, Hedgeman chaired GenNEXT, a council of the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce aimed at preventing “brain drain” by providing opportunities to young professionals. When she joined the chamber’s board of directors and was exposed to financial statements and other fiduciary responsibilities for the first time, Hedgeman had a realization.

“I really didn’t know what was involved in board service,” she says, “and if I was a young professional and didn’t know, there were certainly others.”

Nonprofits are underserved when it comes to being able to retain lawyers, so you have to be able to make it affordable.

After eight years as a litigator, she founded her own firm in 2007 and a new path took shape. “I created my own niche practice of representing nonprofits, because I felt there was really a need there,” she says. 

The following year, Hedgeman took a crack at starting her own nonprofit: The Stakeholders. “The primary reason was to encourage the next generation in our community to volunteer,” says Hedgeman, who still serves as its president. The Stakeholders offers a variety of training programs, and its board matching program connects individuals with positions on nonprofit boards and committees in the Capital Region.

Similarly, her firm offers a Nonprofit Law Academy, at which she advises nonprofit board members about their fiduciary duties. Thousands have enrolled in the span of 15 years, not to mention the video viewers—all at zero cost. 

Over the years, Hedgeman has served on several nonprofit boards and committees, but now her focus is on the legal side. “Nonprofits are underserved when it comes to being able to retain lawyers, so you have to be able to make it affordable,” says Hedgeman. “It’s been highly effective, as I’ve been able to serve maybe 37 nonprofits over the years as GC, while others have asked me to do it on a project-based basis.”

As for the work itself? “It could be anything, from real estate, labor/employment, governance, contracts, municipal law, litigation,” she says.

The impact of Hedgeman’s real estate work can be seen around Albany. “With Habitat for Humanity, we’ve revitalized city blocks with new homes. And with economic development organizations, we’ve taken blighted property and found people to redevelop it and put it back on the tax rolls—therefore stemming urban blight,” she says. “You can drive around upstate New York and see over 700 parcels that the organizations we worked with rehabbed for housing.”

Hedgeman’s efforts with The Stakeholders led the Spitzer administration to appoint her to the Young Leaders Congress in 2008, while her nonprofit work led both governors Paterson and Cuomo to appoint her to the New York State Commission on National and Community Service. One of the main roles of the latter was approving AmeriCorps federal grants for volunteers throughout the state, she says. 

In April, DOGE cut nearly a third of AmeriCorps’ funds, effectively ending more than 1,000 nationwide programs and forcing layoffs of more than 30,000 members. It’s one of the difficulties Hedgeman’s nonprofit clients are facing.

“Everyone’s up in arms right now,” she says. “Legislation currently before Congress would allow the IRS to revoke tax-exempt status under certain circumstances, including supporting terroristic activity. The nonprofit community thinks it goes way too far.”

But rather than feeling beaten down, Hedgeman is standing up, ready to help however she can. “What’s crucial at this time is that nonprofit organizations focus on building strong boards,” she says, “with board members focused on steering the organization through these uncertain waters.”