Mary Kathryn Paynter
Board Chair
Mary Kathryn Paynter is the founder of the brand marketing consultancy, MKCO, and the co-creator of the I Lost My Gig campaign. In response to the cancellation of SXSW due to Covid-19, she created the first peer-to-peer donation platform to help thousands of Austin’s gig workers, creatives, and independent contractors who lost much needed revenue. The platform went viral, recording over $7 million in losses, receiving national press coverage from the Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, and the New Yorker, and expanding into a global movement with sister sites in Australia, Canada, Singapore, and beyond.
As a marketer, designer, and strategist she has worked for enterprising clients across the country such as Alamo Drafthouse, The Four Seasons, Kellogg’s, the City of Houston, High Brew Coffee, Hotel St. Cecilia, Rhythm Superfoods, and McGuire Moorman Hospitality but nothing thrills her more than helping a budding entrepreneur build a brand that makes them thrive.
She is also the founder of Women’s Racket Club, an organization to empower Texas women to make change in their communities through more fun and approachable advocacy. Her legacy as a seventh generation Texan-entrepreneur and her experiences as a woman in various contexts--executive, business owner, freelancer, daughter, advocate--drive her to provide more opportunity for others. She spends her free time with her dog Fozzie and she insists you call her MK.
Board Chair
Mary Kathryn Paynter is the founder of the brand marketing consultancy, MKCO, and the co-creator of the I Lost My Gig campaign. In response to the cancellation of SXSW due to Covid-19, she created the first peer-to-peer donation platform to help thousands of Austin’s gig workers, creatives, and independent contractors who lost much needed revenue. The platform went viral, recording over $7 million in losses, receiving national press coverage from the Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, and the New Yorker, and expanding into a global movement with sister sites in Australia, Canada, Singapore, and beyond.
As a marketer, designer, and strategist she has worked for enterprising clients across the country such as Alamo Drafthouse, The Four Seasons, Kellogg’s, the City of Houston, High Brew Coffee, Hotel St. Cecilia, Rhythm Superfoods, and McGuire Moorman Hospitality but nothing thrills her more than helping a budding entrepreneur build a brand that makes them thrive.
She is also the founder of Women’s Racket Club, an organization to empower Texas women to make change in their communities through more fun and approachable advocacy. Her legacy as a seventh generation Texan-entrepreneur and her experiences as a woman in various contexts--executive, business owner, freelancer, daughter, advocate--drive her to provide more opportunity for others. She spends her free time with her dog Fozzie and she insists you call her MK.
