Kate is the Executive Vice President at Regional Plan Association, overseeing RPA’s programs in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and working to advance RPA’s mission toward improved mobility, equitable economic growth, and environmental resiliency. Kate joined RPA in 2016 to manage outreach for the Fourth Regional Plan. Since then, she has led RPA’s work for a New York City congestion pricing program, successfully advocated for the Interborough Express to move forward, established the Healthy Regions Planning Exchange, built coalitions to help address the region’s affordable housing crisis, and co-authored a number of RPA reports.
Kate has worked for over two decades for more equitable and climate friendly transportation and land use in the New York metropolitan region. She has successfully fought against cuts to public transportation, and has helped secure millions of dollars in new funding for transit, cycling, walking, and sustainable development projects. She is deeply committed to addressing the region’s housing affordability and climate challenges and promoting a more inclusive society.
Kate is widely published and cited in the media, including the New York Times, WNYC, Daily News, Star Ledger, and CNN. She has served on the New York City Sustainability Advisory Board, the MTA Fare and Toll Evasion Blue Ribbon Panel, and the Newark360 Master Plan Steering Committee.
Previously, Kate served as assistant commissioner for government and community affairs at the New York City Department of Transportation under former Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. She spent a decade at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, serving as executive director from 2007 until 2012 and receiving the EPA’s Environmental Quality Award in 2011. Kate started her career at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation as an urban park ranger in Brooklyn.
Kate has a master’s in urban planning from New York University, a bachelor’s in earth and environmental sciences from Wesleyan University and is an alumna of the International Honors Program. She lives with her husband, a professor at the City University of New York, and their two children.