Katrina J. Baranko

KI President 2023-2024

Katrina Baranko of Albany, Georgia, U.S., was elected to a one-year term as president of Kiwanis International at the Kiwanis International Convention in June 2023. She is serving as president of Kiwanis International in 2023-24.  

Baranko had previously been elected vice president at a special meeting held in June 2021 in lieu of the 2021 Kiwanis International Convention. She was elected as a trustee of Kiwanis International in 2018.  

Baranko has been a member of Kiwanis for 30 years and has served on the Membership Committee, the Service and Partnership Committee, Vice Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee and Chair of the Leadership Development and Education Committee.  

She has also served the Kiwanis Club of Albany, Georgia, U.S., as distinguished president and secretary, as well as membership chair and member of the board of directors. At the district level, Baranko was a distinguished governor, lieutenant governor, a member of the finance committee and has been parliamentarian. She also is a Certified Club Leadership Trainer and has presented at three Kiwanis International conventions. She has received the district Leadership Medallion and has served as chair of the Past District Governor’s Association, as well as chair of the district convention, the Training and Education Committee and the Youth Services Committee.   

Baranko is a George F. Hixson Fellow and a Walter Zeller Fellow. She was also chair for The Formula, a membership growth initiative of Kiwanis International, for the Southeast Area and the Georgia District.  

The owner of Merle Norman Cosmetics and Gifts in Albany, Baranko has also been a member of the boards of directors of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce, Liberty House, March of Dimes and the Albany Technical College Foundation. She has served as past chair of Lee County Heart Association and past president of Lee County Association of Educators and Women in Network. She is past district director of Georgia Association of Educators. She was a finalist for Small Business of the Year and was named Junior Women’s Club Family of the Year, Georgia Business Teacher of the Year and Future Business Leaders of America Advisor of the Year.  

Baranko holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in education from Georgia State University. She and her husband, David, have one son, a daughter-in-law and one grandson.