Hi! I’m Kat, a multimedia journalist and civic media practitioner with a passion for participatory storytelling rooted in community and place. I create stories, tools and experiences that help people more deeply connect and engage with the places they live and with each other — and in a way that invites them into a shared process of co-creation.

Currently, I’m the Engagement & Impact Manager at El Tímpano in Oakland, leading strategy to expand the reach and impact of community-focused journalism serving Bay Area Latino and Mayan immigrants.

I was previously the digital and engagement producer for WBEZ’s Curious City, where I helped answer people’s questions about Chicago and the region. I also led community engagement strategy for WBEZ’s wider newsroom to expand the reach, relevance, and impact of our 2020 elections coverage and COVID reporting to racial and geographic communities hardest hit by the pandemic.

I'm also experienced in oral histories and media education, and have served as the lead producer for several interactive educational experiences about Midwest Japanese American history. My work includes Full Spectrum Feature’s “Resettlement: Chicago Story” and "Uprooted" and "Reckoning," two web experiences that chronicle Japanese American World War II incarceration and resettlement to Chicago and the Chicago Japanese American community’s role in the movement for redress and reparations.