Founder and Lead Coach
AlignED Strategy

Postsecondary Leadership Coach
OneGoal

Adjunct Assistant Professor
Diversity Series Courses
(Thomas More University)

Lead Coach
District C

K16 Consultant & Coach
Momentum Metrics (Education Strategy Group)
Tipton County Schools (TN)
Lauderdale County Schools (TN)
AccelerateED  (BMGF)
Eastern Kentucky Student Success Pipeline (EKYSSP)
EmployIndy Career Advising Framework

Ed Tech Content & Community Engagement Lead
Encourage (Encoura)
myOptions (NRCCUA)

K12 Administrator
College Manager
(Cincinnati Public Schools)

College Access & Success Non-Profit Leader
TRiO Talent Search
AmeriCorps Ohio College Guides
GearUP Norwood
(Cincinnati Youth Collaborative)

Undergraduate Admissions & Enrollment Management
Program Manager (University of Cincinnati  CEAS)
Admission Counselor & Ambassador (Thomas More College)

Doctor of Education, Educational Leadership
Northern Kentucky University

Master of Science, Marketing
University of Cincinnati

Bachelor of Arts, Mathematics
Thomas More College

Associate of Arts, History
Thomas More College

Certificate, DEI in the Workplace
University of South Florida

Certificate, Entrepreneurship
Cornell University

2022  Life Member Award, Ohio Association for College Admission Counseling

2020 40 Under 40 Nominee, Cincinnati Business Courier

2018 CChange Class 13, Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce

2016 Rising Star Award Honorable Mention, National Association for College Admission Counseling

2016 Barbara Seibel Spirit Award, Cincinnati Youth Collaborative

2015 McCormick Distinguished Staff Member Award, University of Cincinnati College of Engineering & Applied Science

2014 New Member Awardee, Ohio Association of College Admission Counseling

Fellow, KIPP Collaborative for College Success Executive Fellowship, Inaugural Cohort, 2020

Invitee, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation K12 District Postsecondary Leaders Fall 2019 Convening

Leading Others Certification, Leadership Pipeline Institute, October 2019

C-Change Class 13, Cincinnati Regional Chamber of Commerce, 2018

Studio C, facilitated by Design Impact, sponsored by United Way, Class of Spring 2017

NCAN Idea Incubator: Collecting and Reporting Metrics across Organizations, Networks, and Collaboratives, August 2016

The Leadership Challenge, Leadership Council for Non-Profits, Class of Fall 2016

Kenton County Government Academy, January-April 2016

SafeZone, TransZone, and DreamZone trained

Nationals Conferences and Convenings

• Ritter Rickels, K. (2025, October 21). Empowering Educational Leaders: K-12 Leadership Development as High-Impact Mentoring [Paper presentation]. UNM Mentoring Institute, Albuquerque, NM, United States.

• Ritter Rickels, K., & Tosolt, B. (2025, October 21). Beyond Boundaries: Transforming Postsecondary Readiness Through Developmental Networks [Paper presentation]. UNM Mentoring Institute, Albuquerque, NM, United States.

• Martin, R.., & Ritter Rickels, K. (2024, November 11). Data as a flashlight: Using equity-conscious survey design to improve postsecondary access [Paper presentation]. Association for the Study of Higher Education, Milwaukee, MN, United States.

• Ritter Rickels, K., & Vai, R. (2024, September 17). Empowering Rural Futures [Conference session]. National College Attainment Network, Anaheim, CA, United States.

• Ritter Rickels, K., & Fallon, K. (2024, April 11-14). Cabinet motivators and barriers for fulfilling a social justice commitment: An institutional look [Paper presentation]. American Educational Research Association National Conference, Philadelphia, PA, United States.

• Ritter Rickels, K., & Tosolt, B. (2023, November 8-12). “It changed my whole world”: Developing fictive kinship in writing groups [Paper presentation]. American Educational Studies Association National Conference, Louisville, KY, United States.

• Ritter Rickels, K., & Fallon, K. (2023, November 8-12). The (con/di)vergence of social justice for well-meaning White women [Paper presentation]. American Educational Studies Association National Conference, Louisville, KY, United States.

• Ritter Rickels, K., & Tosolt, B. (2023, November 8-12). Meaning-making through conversation: Duoethnography as a methodology [Poster presentation]. American Educational Studies Association National Conference, Louisville, KY, United States.

• Luhman, C., Cameron, S., Schmidt, J., & Ritter Rickels, K. (2023). Discover district-level postsecondary solutions [Webinar]. OneGoal.

• Ritter Rickels, K. (2022, October 27-28). Realizing holistic admission: Implications of Black Feminist Epistemology on college application review [Paper presentation]. Critical Race Studies in Education Association National Conference, Edwardsville, IL, United States.

• Ritter Rickels, K. (2022). Help students and families build a balanced college list [Webinar]. American School Counselor Association Fall Webinar Series.

• Ritter Rickels, K. (2022, April 7). Ready, set, so you can go: Using the end of Junior year wisely [Webinar]. NAF.

• Ritter Rickels, K. (2021). Back to the future: Engaging and supporting the Class of 2022 [Webinar]. National College Attainment Network.

• Ritter Rickels, K. (2021, July 2-4). Back to the future: Engaging and supporting the Class of 2022 [Conference session]. NAF Next National Conference.

• Ritter Rickels, K., Calhoun, J., & Reid-Filak, D. (2020, September 14-16). Coalition building for change: Co-creating equitable college experiences for grades 7-12 [Conference session]. National College Attainment Network Annual Conference.

• Meadows, M., & Ritter Rickels, K. (2020, September 22-24). On the same team: School counselors and college access partners [Conference session]. National Association of College Admission Counseling Annual Conference.

• Reid-Filak, D., Goins, K., & Ritter Rickels, K. (2020). Building a better system for summer melt [Webinar]. National Partnerships for Educational Access.

• Reid-Filak, D., Goins, K., & Ritter Rickels, K. (2020). Building a better system for summer melt [Webinar]. NODA.

• Ritter Rickels, K., & Zimmerman, G. (2019, September 15-17). Building mutual accountability: How we’re creating #DestinationCincinnati [Conference session]. National College Attainment Network Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN, United States.

• Zimmerman, G., & Ritter Rickels, K. (2019, September 11-13). Partnerships for postsecondary success [Conference session]. Strive Network National Convening, Washington, D.C., United States.

• Ritter Rickels, K. (2019, September 25-28). Partnerships around the table [Conference session]. National Association of College Admission Counseling, Louisville, KY, United States.

• Ritter Rickels, K., Evans-Phillips, J., & Maynard, K. (2019, September 24-26). Building bridges: How to uniquely partner across the K-12 and college divide [Conference session]. National College Attainment Network Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.

• Ritter Rickels, K. (2016, September 19-21). Using inclusion cards to drive programming [Conference session]. Council on Education, San Diego, CA, United States

• Ritter Rickels, K. (2016, August 31 - September 3). Off the beaten path [Conference session]. National College Attainment Network Annual Conference, Detroit, MI, United States

Local/State Conferences and Convenings

• Ritter Rickels, K., Zoll, H., & Morales, S. (2025, February 6). Elevating Student Voice through the Postsecondary Culture Survey [Paper presentation]. Parsec, Fresno, CA, United States.

• Contreras, B., & Ritter Rickels, K. (2021). Put on your oxygen mask first, then help others: Student success depends on it [Webinar]. Minnesota ACAC. 

• Goins, K., Reid-Filak, D., & Ritter Rickels, K. (2021, March 15-16). Working differently together: A unified approach to summer melt [Conference session]. Ohio Association for College Admission Counseling Annual Conference.

• Reid-Filak, D., Goins, K., & Ritter Rickels, K. (2021). Building a better system for summer melt [Webinar]. Ohio Association for College Admission Counseling.

• Evans-Phillips, J., & Ritter Rickels, K. (2018, March 11-12). Barrier busters [Conference session]. Ohio Association for College Admission Counseling Annual Conference, Columbus, OH, United States.

• Wolfe, S., Evans-Phillips, J., & Ritter Rickels, K. (2018, April 4). Barrier busters [Conference session]. University of Cincinnati Diversity Conference, Cincinnati, OH, United States.

• Ritter Rickels, K. (2017, July 24-26). The third leg of college accessibility [Conference session]. Ohio Association of College Admission Counselor Summer Institute, Bowling Green, OH, United States.

• Ritter Rickels, K. (2014, July 23-25). Join now to lead later [Conference session]. Ohio Association of College Admission Counselor Summer Institute, Akron OH, United States.

Ritter Rickels, K. (2013, July 25-27). True colors: Hue are you?[Conference session]. Ohio Association of College Admission Counselor Summer Institute, Cincinnati, OH, United States. 

NCAN Advisory Task Force, Janaury 2024-December 2025

Thomas More University Alumni Board of Directors, June 2014 to present

Treasurer, OACAC Executive Board, March 2018 to May 2022

Hispanic Scholarship Foundation Advisory Board Member, May 2018 to present

University of Akron Admissions Advisory Board Member, October 2017 to January 2021

Membership Chair, OACAC Executive Board, May 2016 to June 2018

Program Chair, OACAC Annual Conference, July 2016 to June 2018

Thomas More College J. G. Brown Honors Program Admissions Committee Member, Spring 2017

The Ohio State Young Scholars Program Interview Panelist, Spring 2017 & 2018

On-site Registration Chair, OACAC Annual Conference, July 2015 to June 2016

Gender Inclusive Housing Committee, University of Cincinnati, September 2014 to December 2016

University of Cincinnati Honors Program LeaderShape Cluster Facilitator, December 2015

Entertainment Committee Chair, OACAC/KYACAC SuperConference, July 2014 to June 2015

PR/Communications Committee Chair, OACAC Summer Institute, September 2012 to August 2014

Co-Chair, 2014 Annual Appeal, Bishop Brossart High School

Marketing Advisory Board Member, Bishop Brossart High School, January to December 2015