Kathleen McDonough

Kathleen McDonough (b. 22 January 1964) is an American entrepreneur, business woman and community activist.

Biography
Kathleen McDonough was born and raised in South Plainfield NJ, she has spent the last 20 years actively involved in the Montclair, NJ community. Ms McDonough holds degrees from the Culinary Institute of America, Middleesex College and Montclair State University. She has continued her education at Drew University taking classes pertaining to Historic Preservation. Ms McDonough is a Registered Yoga Teacher, having completed training at the Starseed Yoga Center.

She now lives just outside of Montclair in a unique Mid-Centory Modern home designed by architect Arthur Riggolo for his family, with her husband and their animal companions.

Career
The Ovid Group

In 2007, Kathleen began working with The Ovid Group, a Federal Government Contracting consultancy. The Ovid Group specializes in creating GSA contracts and working with clients and the Federal Government to train contractors in the best use of their contract. Ms McDonough trains clients and negotiates on behalf of The Ovid Group clients with the Federal Government.

KLAD
At KLAD, Kathleen has been a stylist, art director and production designer since 1997. Most recently she created the look for the numbers 1 through 10 to be seen on Sesame Street Fall 2008. Other credits include work for HBO, the Sci-Fi Channel Anthology series Exposure starring Lisa Marie and The Forensics of Terror for the Discovery Channel.

Other design projects include work for the Navy, the Department of Defense, A&E, MTV, Lucent, General Motors, PBS, the USA Network, numerous commercials and the Montclair Center Stage.

Chiffon
Leaving a career in sales and marketing at large corporations such as IBM, Ms McDonough created Chiffon a lifestyle boutique in downtown Montclair. After a few years, Ms McDonough closed Chiffon, but the store's unique mix of art, antiques, new and vintage clothing, cosmetics and skin care products continues to live on in neighboring boutiques that have adopted some of Chiffon's ideas.

Yoga
An avid yoga practitioner and teacher, Kathleen is registered with the National Yoga Alliance and specializes in therapeutic and restorative yoga, working with clients in private practice and (formerly) as an adjunct professor at Montclair State University

Chef
As partner and executive chef at 10 Park, a Montclair restaurant, Ms McDoungh has entertained celebrities the likes of Mick Jagger and Olympia Dukakis.

Community Service
From 2001-2008 Ms McDonough was a commissioner sitting on the Montclair Historic Preservation Commission; an element of the local government. As commissioner, she was actively involved in the expansion and creation of several business area Historic Districts. Her influence, particularly in Montclair Central Business District, has helped to refine design standards in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior's Guideline for Historic Preservation. As commissioner, Ms McDonough was a staunch advocate for the strict interpretation of the guidelines, often leading to adversarial debates.

Ms McDonough was instrumental in coordinating the goals of the Historic Preservation Commission with the Montclair Center Business Improvement District.

In 1997-9 Ms McDounough was a member of the Montclair Economic Development Corporation's Central Business District Master Planning Commission. The document prepared by her team and their consultants has been adopted by the municipal government, incorporated in the township master plan and used to drive redevelopment in the downtown area.

From 1996-99, Ms McDonough sat on the board of directors for the Montclair Chamber of Commerce. She was elected Vice President.

An avid supporter of the arts, Ms McDonough has served on the boards of the 12 Miles West Theatre Company and the American Globe Theatre.

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