Meet Our Team

Katherine Nunnally, MPA

Executive Director, Turning Point Discovery Center

Katherine N. Nunnally, MPA, gained her passion for community service and education from her parents as well as from her lifelong participation in a number of programs and organizations in and around her home city of Trenton, New Jersey.

Before founding Turning Point Discovery Center, in 1999, Katherine served as a teacher at Sojourner Truth Middle School in East Orange, NJ. In 2003, she served as an adjunct professor and coordinator for counseling services for student support services at Seton Hall University.

Always maintaining her commitment to the community, Katherine worked to provide college tutors to Newark Public Schools and community organizations, and also worked in the Youth Ministry, serving as Christian education director, praise dance director, and minister at her various church homes.

In 2004, Katherine founded God’s Promise, which served both the Newark (Dhkiyah Kabibi) and Trenton (My Sisters and I) communities, focusing on youth and girls’ empowerment. In 2006, Katherine was awarded “Woman of The Year” by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority’s Gamma Omicron Zeta Chapter.

Over the course of her career, Katherine has served on several boards for community organizations and has mentored many youths. She is a published author and consultant for nonprofit organizations and their governing boards.

While working in the non-profit sector, Katherine served in what she calls a “work of heart,” as a classroom teacher-turned administrator in both the public and charter school systems.

In 2016, Katherine returned to her home town of Trenton to serve as the Executive Director/CEO of the Smith Family Foundation and their Trenton-focused #IAMTHECHANGE college and career readiness program.

The Smith Family Foundation’s mission is to empower our community, cultivate leaders, and transform lives by providing funding and leadership development to Trenton-based organizations. With her personal mantra of “success is the ONLY option,” Katherine works diligently to empower leaders and is dedicated to the foundation’s core values of education, cultivation, transformation, and urban ministry.

A 1994 graduate of Trenton Central High School, Katherine attended Seton Hall University, where she double-majored in African American Studies and Elementary Education. Katherine earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from Seton Hall in 1999, and returned to earn her Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Seton Hall in 2006. Katherine currently resides in New Jersey with her husband Talib and children Makeda, Zaria, Ezra, and Sakura.