Davenport business owner adds new honor

Katie Castillo-Wilson, founder and CEO of Davenport-based TapOnIt LLC, has been chosen as a member of the 2024 Class of Henry Crown Fellows by the Aspen Institute, based in Washington, D.C.

The Henry Crown Fellowship mobilizes proven entrepreneurial leaders, mostly from the private business sector, between the ages of 30-46 to tackle the world’s most intractable problems. Katie Castillo-Wilson is a recognized leader in the field of mobile marketing and communications, according to a Wednesday press release.

Under her leadership, TapOnIt has transformed the way businesses communicate with their customers via text, offering a Content-First MMS & SMS Engagement Platform that prioritizes customer engagement and user experience.

“I am honored to be selected as a Henry Crown Fellow and join a community of like-hearted leaders committed to creating positive change in the world,” Castillo-Wilson said in Wednesday’s release. “I look forward to the opportunity to further develop my leadership skills and contribute to building a better society through the fellowship.”

As one of 21 Henry Crown Fellows (and the only one from Illinois and Iowa), Castillo-Wilson will spend four weeks over the course of two years in structured retreat, exploring her leadership, core values, vision for a good society, and desired legacies. Additionally, she will launch a leadership venture that will have a positive impact on her community, country, or the world.

“The greatest challenges of our time require solutions from innovative, effective, and thoughtful leaders,” said Tonya Hinch, executive director of the program. “This class embodies those ideals: they are a force for good, poised to channel their talents and energies into tackling these challenges. With this fellowship, they are beginning a personal journey with a mosaic of like-hearted and like-minded classmates – a journey from success to significance – that will leave an impact on themselves and the world.”

Castillo-Wilson is a 2001 Pleasant Valley alum and 2005 graduate of Kaplan University.

She sits on the board of the American Red Cross Quad Cities & West Central Illinois; is a board member and finance committee member at the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, and a Pleasant Valley Community School District Educational Foundation board member.

Castillo-Wilson is one of Editor & Publishers Magazine 25 Under 35 People to Watch, Digital Marketing News 40 Under 40, Entrepreneur.com 360 List, and Forbes Next 1000 Entrepreneur.

She is the recipient of the Silver Stevie Award for Woman of the Year for Technology, the MBolden Awards People’s Choice Award, the Quad City Area Business Hall of Fame, Junior Achievement Young Entrepreneur of the Year, the Women Lead Change Woman of Influence Award, the Mobile Growth Association 2022 Woman of the Year People’s Choice Award, and a Technology Association of Iowa CEO of the Year 2023 finalist.

In 2022, Castillo-Wilson completed the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative Program, receiving a certificate of completion from the Stanford Graduate School of Business through LBAN, the Latino Business Action Network

TapOnIt has been named Business of the Year by the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce and one of the Top 100 Most Fundable Companies by Pepperdine Graziado Business School two years in a row.

The Henry Crown Fellowship seeks to develop the next generation of community-spirited leaders, providing them with the tools to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

It was established in 1997 to honor the life and career of Chicago industrialist Henry Crown (1896-1990) and was initially funded by the Henry and Gladys Crown Charitable Trust Fund. The program is the flagship Fellowship of the Aspen Institute and the founding Fellowship of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

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