CEO Leadership Exchange: Tech & Innovation Dinner with Governor Brown

Prior to her career in elected office, Kate advocated for Oregon children and families as a family law attorney. She taught at Portland State University, worked with the Juvenile Rights Project and co-founded the Oregon Women’s Health & Wellness Alliance. By working within the foster care system and with families navigating difficult circumstances, Kate gained invaluable insight into what it means to truly fight for a healthy, prosperous life for Oregonians.

For working families across Oregon, Kate has focused on supporting small businesses that are growing the economy, worked successfully to raise the state’s minimum wage, ensure a fair work schedule, and guarantee paid sick leave. For our children, she has made record investments in education and instituted new teacher development resources. For seniors, Kate signed a law giving every Oregonian access to a professionally invested retirement account, so they can save for their later years. For future generations, Kate was the first governor in the country to take action to end the use of coal power, putting Oregon at the forefront of the clean energy movement.

From 2009 to 2015, Kate served as Oregon’s Secretary of State. While overseeing the Audits Division, she saved the state millions of dollars by increasing government efficiencies and rooting out waste. She successfully implemented an online voter registration system and received national recognition for her innovative use of technology to make it easier for active-duty service members and people with disabilities to vote.

Before being elected statewide, Kate served 17 years in the legislature, making history in 2004 as the first woman to serve as Oregon’s Senate Majority Leader. In 2007, she successfully spearheaded legislation that The Oregonian called the “state’s most sweeping package of ethics reforms in 34 years.” Kate also worked to pass Family and Medical Leave, required insurance companies to cover annual breast exams for women, and passed both the Oregon Equality Act and Family Fairness Act to protect LGBT rights.

Kate lives in Salem with her husband Dan, and together, they raised Dan’s son and daughter, who are now grown and living in Oregon. When she is not busy at the Capitol in Salem or talking to Oregonians across the state, you’ll find her horseback riding or hiking.