When Dr Catherine Gottfred was twelve years-old, she debated whether to become a writer or a doctor. Determining that all the famous writers she knew were depressed, she got her PhD in Speech and Language... and yet still spent most of her life wrestling what she romantically refers to as "existential despair." Dr. Gottfred founded the non-profit Language-Empowers-All-People (LEAP) in 1986, dedicated to providing researched-based language/literacy development to children, families, home visitors, and teachers. LEAP developed a free app, Beginning-With-Babble, giving daily age-appropriate language tips to parents. Language-Through-Science, Language-for-Emergent Readers, and Language-for-Scholars are examples of programs LEAP provides in Chicago and shares nationally. Dr. Gottfred taught at Northwestern, Illinois, and Northern Illinois universities, and worked clinically in private practice, hospitals, and schools. She was President of ASHA and ISHA and ASHA's VP of Government Affairs. She served on the Chicago Charter School Board, Rush University ComD Advisory Board, Advocate Hospitals Foundation Board and Institutional Review Board, DePauw University Visitors Board, Glenbrook Multicultural Committee, Glenview Education Association Board, Daniel Murphy Scholarship Board, and Chicago-Youth-Centers Lower-North Board. Dr. Gottfred has received ASHA and ISHA Fellow, ISHA Honors, DiCarlo Award-Outstanding Clinical Achievement, Kleffner Lifetime Clinical Career Award, Northwestern University School of Communications Alumni of the Year in 2010, and was named one of 26 Trailblazer Alumnae Who Changed the World by Northwestern University School of Communication.
