Kate Sylvester is Vice President, Military Families, for First Focus and the America’s Promise Alliance. Previously, Ms. Sylvester founded and directed the Social Policy Action Network, an organization that worked with federal and state policymakers to promote effective policies
for low-income families. Ms. Sylvester also served as vice president for domestic policy at the Washington, DC-based Progressive Policy Institute, where her advocacy on issues including teen pregnancy, welfare reform and education.

Before turning to public policy work, Ms. Sylvester spent two decades as an award-winning journalist. She reported for NBC News, National Public Radio, and The Washington Star, and she was one of the founders of Governing magazine. She has contributed to numerous publications including The Washington Post, USA Today, Newsday, The Baltimore Sun, The Chicago Tribune, Policy & Practice, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Policy Review.

Raised in a military family, Ms. Sylvester attended 18 schools in a 10 states before earning her undergraduate degree from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. She also earned a master’s degree from Wesleyan University, studied at the Yale Law School and spent a year at Stanford University as the recipient of a John S. Knight Fellowship. More recently, she completed the Stanford Business School’s Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders.

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