Katy Acheson is the Economic Development Director for the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. She accepted a role on the membership team at the Cape Cod Chamber in March of 2022 and soon found herself learning the ins and outs of the Blue Economy Foundation with her promotion in July of the same year.Acheson is a published poet and self-published children's book author. She earned her master's degree in professional writing while teaching business communications at UMass Dartmouth and her bachelor's degree in English from UMass Amherst with departmental honors. She is also a proud Nauset Regional Highschool graduate who now calls the Upper Cape home.She has worked for Cape-owned small businesses since she turned 14 years old. Experiences from selling kayaks to scooping ice cream give her first-hand understanding and appreciation for everything small business owners and staff manage day to day. The scope of her past work experience informs and inspires her every day. She also worked as executive assistant, followed by executive director, of the Mashpee Chamber of Commerce.Fresh out of Cape Leadership Institute class of 2022, Acheson attended her first year of US Chamber Institute for Organization Management. She is one of 35 fellows in the US Chamber's nation-wide Business Leads Fellowship Program, meeting October 2022 through March 2023 with a focus on workforce development.