Kathryn Phillips Named Recipient of the 2026 Bill Achtmeyer High-Five Award
Kathryn Phillips Named Recipient of the 2026 Bill Achtmeyer High-Five Award
Runway for Recovery is proud to announce Kathryn Phillips as the recipient of the 2026 Bill Achtmeyer High-Five Award.
Named in honor of our founding Board Chair, Bill Achtmeyer, the High-Five Award celebrates members of the Runway for Recovery community whose generosity, enthusiasm, and unwavering commitment have strengthened our organization and the families we serve. Inspired by Bill's tradition of greeting every model with a joyful high-five at the end of the runway, the award recognizes those who make others feel seen, celebrated, and supported.
Few people embody the heart of Runway for Recovery more completely than Kathryn Phillips.
Kathryn's Runway story began in 2007, when she was one of the very first models to take to the Runway, dancing in memory of her mother, Susan Bailis, who passed away from metastatic breast cancer in 2000. What began as a tribute to her mother's life would become a lifelong commitment to ensuring that no family faces breast cancer alone.
Just three years later, Kathryn returned to the Runway under very different circumstances. This time, she was dancing as a breast cancer patient herself, accompanied by her three-year-old daughter, Savannah. Their story became one of the defining moments in Runway's early history—capturing the love, resilience, and community that have become the foundation of our organization.
Long before joining Runway professionally, Kathryn gave countless hours as a volunteer. She served on the Family Grant Review Committee, carefully reading and evaluating every application submitted by families seeking support. Following a distinguished 25-year career as an educator, Kathryn brought both her professional expertise and her lived experience to Runway for Recovery, joining the staff in 2023 as Director of Programs. Today, she leads the organization's Care Team, walking alongside families facing metastatic breast cancer and loss with extraordinary compassion and ensuring they feel seen, supported, and deeply cared for during some of life's most difficult moments.
To Kathryn, Runway has never simply been an organization or a job—it has always been a calling.
Those who know Kathryn consistently describe her as the personification of kindness, generosity, and quiet leadership. She has inspired countless volunteers, donors, and community members to become involved simply by witnessing the way she loves and serves others. Over the years, she has built an extraordinary network of supporters throughout Boston and, more recently, helped cultivate a remarkable community of advocates and donors in New York City. Significant philanthropic investments have been made in honor of Kathryn—not because she has ever sought recognition, but because those who know her believe so deeply in the work she represents and the compassion she brings to every family she serves.
Current and former Board members echoed those sentiments when selecting Kathryn for this year's Bill Achtmeyer High-Five Award.
One Board member wrote:
"Kathryn goes above and beyond for all Runway families—often doing work that is not seen but certainly felt. She is dedicated to helping Runway families in any way she can with the deepest of love. She may not be the loudest person in the room, but she is high-fiving from behind the scenes and is everyone's biggest cheerleader."
Another shared:
"She has Runway in the heart of everything she does."
And perhaps one of the most meaningful endorsements came from fellow nominee Linda Matzkin, who wrote:
"Had I known that Kathryn was nominated, I would have asked you to remove my name. She is so deserving of this award and recognition. She represents everything good and positive and forward-thinking about Runway, and her dedication is palpable in all she has done and continues to do for the women you serve."
Whether comforting a newly diagnosed parent, celebrating a model backstage, mentoring a volunteer, reviewing Family Grant applications, or helping shape the future of Runway's programs, Kathryn reflects the same joyful spirit that has defined the organization since its beginning.
Her nearly twenty-year journey with Runway—as one of our inaugural models, a volunteer, Family Grant reviewer, Board member, and now Director of Programs—makes her an extraordinary example of the generous, steadfast, and compassionate legacy honored by the Bill Achtmeyer High-Five Award. She embodies not only the spirit of our community, but also the remarkable ability to inspire others to invest their own time, talents, and resources so that Runway for Recovery can continue to grow and serve more families.
Kathryn's story has inspired the Runway community for nearly two decades. We invite you to watch her remarkable journey through two unforgettable Runway moments:
We are honored to celebrate Kathryn Phillips as the recipient of the 2026 Bill Achtmeyer High-Five Award during our 20th Anniversary Runway Show on October 29, 2026.