Katherine M.L. Cortes was born in Tokyo to an American Foreign Service officer father and Vietnamese-born mother and grew up in France, Malaysia, Japan, and the Washington, D.C. area. Katherine currently works at the public-sector focused BERK Consulting, following a dozen years in various fiscal, policy and operational leadership roles with King County and the City of Seattle, most recently in the Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. She has also worked locally in homelessness and housing policy. Prior to moving to Seattle in 2006, Katherine worked on criminal justice policy (including prisoner re-entry and mental health system overlaps) for the Council of State Governments in New York City. She holds a Master’s in Public Affairs from the University of Washington Evans School and a BA in English and Art History from Harvard. Katherine loves playing soccer and pickleball, dancing, and playing board games with her son Julian and husband Geoff.