Kay’s leadership roles include 23 years as the executive director of the Racine Literacy Council and two years as the director of the Racine Alliance for Mental Illness. Her background includes six years as an art teacher, having graduated from Mount Mary College with a teaching degree in art and sociology. She obtained a masters of liberal studies from UW- Milwaukee in 2004..

Currently retired, Kay often enjoys substitute teaching in a variety of high school subjects. She has attended or been a member of UU churches in Chicago and Racine, with membership at Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church since 2004. Born and raised in Menominee, Michigan, She has lived in Racine since 1977 and have two adult children and four grandchildren who live in Milwaukee.