About Us
The Oak Guild Institute
Our Vision
We envision a world where people flourish by respectfully communicating, learning, and working together despite having different perspectives on important issues.
Our Mission
We provide opportunities for people to think critically and learn collectively via loving dialogue, even on contested topics. And, via these opportunities, we aim to help people get inspired by fellow participants to make the world better.
Kate Whitehead
Co-founder
Kate leads fast-paced, customer-driven global supply chain teams in the technology sector. Her expertise is in forecasting, planning, and using artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to improve operations. Kate also enjoys spending time with her family and friends, playing sports, reading, traveling, and learning new hobbies.
Jake Chacko
Co-founder
Jake is a seasoned tech executive with broad experience across general management, strategy and business development, engineering, and marketing. He is a loving husband, father of three girls, and grandfather of two boys.
Katie Gray
Co-founder
Katie is founder and principal of Message Maven Consulting, a strategic communications agency, where she empowers senior leaders to convey complex product and vision ideas. Katie enjoys spending time with family and friends, performing improv comedy, and going on hikes and backpacking trips.
Our History
How the Oak Guild Institute came to be
In 2019, Katie Gray and Kate Whitehead started dinner party salons. They sought to meet and bring different people together in the San Francisco Bay Area to discuss interesting and challenging topics over a meal. Topics ranged from technology and culture to ethical controversies.
In 2020, Jake Chacko, Kate, and a couple of others started exploring a movement focused on cultivating a “life of the mind.” They met through a church, but their goal was to bring together people of all beliefs and world views. They believed in the search for truth through loving, compassionate, and at times, contested dialogue. They called this fledgling idea the Oak Guild Institute. Meanwhile, Katie and Kate continued hosting salons, navigating pandemic and health restrictions by transitioning to virtual remote meetups through 2020 and early 2021.
In 2021, Jake and Kate produced a podcast to share different ideas and perspectives with the world. They titled it “Life of the Mind.” Since the missions of these activities aligned so well, Jake, Kate, and Katie officially joined salons and podcasts together under the umbrella of the Oak Guild Institute.
The Meaning Behind Our Name
Oak
Oak trees have historical symbolism for strength, resilience, justice, and honesty.
Guild
Guilds were associations, often of craftsman or other professionals, that passed on learning and held each other accountable to standards of practice. They were an important part of the economic and social fabric of communities for many centuries. Guilds of students founded the first universities in Oxford and Paris.
Institute
Institutes are organizational bodies often associated with universities or higher education and research.
OGI
The Oak Guild Institute often refers to itself as “OGI.” This is a fun play on the term “OG” which is shorthand for original.
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“I’ve learned people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.