Of Counsel

Katherine joined MG’s Chicago office in September 2007. With 20 years of experience in communications and advancing social change, she brings to MG expertise in building public will, media relations, audience engagement and communications strategy. Her knowledge of the tools needed to drive social change stems from a career as a journalist for top world news organizations and from her substantial nonprofit and government experience. She has worked passionately on an array of social change issues, including veteran homelessness, affordable housing, economic development, the empowerment of women, access to credit, and adult education.

Katherine’s career journey began with a position in Washington, D.C., as director of development for one of the first nonprofits to promote access to credit as a means of alleviating extreme poverty. She moved to Eastern Europe in the early 1990s, freelancing as a journalist and later to Britain, where she freelanced for the BBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, NPR and BusinessWeek.

Katherine returned to the U.S. in the late 1990s. She served as speechwriter to the president of the Chicago Federal Reserve for several years and then went on to spend four years working for the state of Illinois, writing speeches for executive and senior administration officials, and serving as a senior policy advisor for the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and as communications director for the Illinois Housing Development Authority.

Katherine holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and master’s degrees in anthropology from both the London School of Economics and Northwestern University.

Katherine and her husband, Grahame, live with their son, Will, and daughter, Annabel, in Evanston, where they are currently fixing up a 1920s bungalow. Her personal interests include international travel and any activity that catches her children’s fancy. She shares with her family a love of indie music, British theater, the Cubs, quilting, and all things South African.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. — Mahatma Gandhi