Kathleen Matthews

Kathleen Matthews has worked in the nation's capital for 40 years as a journalist, corporate communications and public affairs executive, and political activist. In 2016 she ran as a Democrat for Congress in Maryland's 8th District and was elected interim chair of the Maryland Democratic Party in 2017. She serves on the boards of the National Capital Area Council of the Girl Scouts of America and Emerge Maryland, which trains women to run for elected office. For 9 years, Matthews was the chief communications and public affairs officer for Marriott International, the world's largest hotel company. Prior to her career at Marriott, she was an award winning news anchor and reporter at the ABC-TV affiliate in Washington, DC for 25 years, and hosted the nationally syndicated “Working Woman” television show. Matthews has been awarded multiple journalism awards, including nine local Emmys, the Human Rights Campaign's Straight Ally Award, Washington Business Journal's “Woman Who Means Business” award, and Washingtonian of the Year. She is a 1975 graduate of Stanford University, and a 2004 Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School at Harvard University. She and her husband Chris Matthews have three grown children.