Kat Guillaume: Abundance Thinking turns Vacant Lots into Vibrant Assets

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, host Kristine Michie welcomes Kat Guillaume, CEO of the Center for Community Progress, for an inspiring conversation about finding courage, laughter, and purpose in the work of justice. Through her powerful story—from generational poverty to public leadership—Kat shows how play, joy, and an eye for what’s holy can fuel transformation, both personal and systemic. Listeners will be encouraged to think globally, act locally, and hold onto joy even in difficult times.

Key Takeaways:

• Lead with joy even in serious work—joy isn’t denial of hardship, it’s a form of resistance that keeps purpose sustainable.
• Reframe how you begin any project or initiative: shift from defining a problem statement to declaring a promise statement that names what’s possible.
• Show up and listen—real community progress starts by hearing people where they already are, not speaking for them.
• Build alliances beyond your usual circles; lasting impact often comes from unlikely partnerships grounded in shared values.
• Align your professional, personal, and civic life, as Kat Guillaume does, so your work and convictions never compete with each other.
• Let lived experience shape your leadership; Kat’s journey from generational poverty to elected office fuels her belief that policy must reflect real lives.
• Find purpose in the long arc of justice; as Kat says, “we were not built to be broken,” a reminder that faith and perseverance outlast any setback.

"Unlike vacant properties, unlike vacant structures, we were not built to be broken." — Kat Guillaume

"Go to meetings, knock on doors, have your meeting. If there's no meeting there, create one, get the voices, and then credit the voices." — Kat Guillaume

"My defiance to the state of the world is laughter. My defiance is yet, and still, I find reasons to laugh; yet and still, I find reasons to seek joy." — Kat Guillaume

About Kat Guillaume: Kathleen Jeanette Guillaume-Delemar is the President and CEO of the Center for Community Progress. With a deep personal connection to the harm vacant properties cause a community – and the healing that comes from transforming them – Guillaume-Delemar has focused her career on addressing injustice, working on issues including community revitalization, affordable housing, and combating homelessness. Guillaume-Delemar has been a leader on the Glenarden Housing Authority, a commissioner on the Prince George’s County Affordable Housing Commission, and later made history when she became the first and only Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latina, Haitian American to be elected to the City Council of Glenarden, Maryland.

Connect with Kat: 

Website: https://communityprogress.org/

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