Katherine Miller | An Island Press author

Katherine Miller

Named an industry leader and “Fixer” by Grist magazine and called one of the most innovative women in food and beverage by Fortune and Food & Wine magazines, Katherine was the founding executive director of the Chef Action Network and the vice president of impact at the James Beard Foundation. She was the first food policy fellow at American University’s Sine Institute of Policy and Politics and is a Distinguished Terker Fellow at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs. 

Katherine has built a 20-year career working at the intersections of policy, politics, and social impact. She develops and manages award-winning campaigns, trains activists around the world, and helps deliver millions of supporters – and hundreds of millions in funding – to efforts focused on global health, climate change, gender bias and violence, and food system reform. 

At the heart of all of Katherine's work is her passion for helping communities tackle seemingly intractable problems using all the tools available to them, including grantmaking, training, communications, policy, and advocacy campaigns. Katherine is also a sought-after trainer and has helped leaders and advocates in the United States, Mali, Nigeria, Turkey, Lebanon, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, and China to develop effective communication and advocacy strategies.

She is a professional alum of the Los Angeles Times, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, TIAA-CREF, United Nations Foundation, and the James Beard Foundation. Her work has received numerous awards, including a People’s Choice Webby, Best Non-Profit Tagline of the Year, and PR Grassroots Campaign of the Year. She and her work have been featured in media outlets around the world, including the Stanford Social Innovation Review, New York Times, Financial Times, The Australian, ABC News, CNN, The Economist, O Magazine, Le Monde, and Glamour
She is a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) and serves on the Board of Directors of both the New Venture Fund and Re:Her DC. She is an adjunct professor at the Culinary Institute of America. 

Katherine holds an undergraduate degree from Loyola University in New Orleans. She also holds a graduate certificate in crisis communication from Georgetown University and is a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (American College of Financial Services). 

She can be found working on her recipe for French-style macarons and following the Washington Nationals.  She lives in Washington DC, on the land of the Anacostan and Nacotchtank people, with her husband, Lou, and their cat, Lily.

At the Table: The Chef's Guide to Advocacy by Katherine Miller | An Island Press book

At the Table

The Chef's Guide to Advocacy

When Katherine Miller was first asked to train chefs to be advocates, she thought the idea was ludicrous. This was a group known for short tempers and tattoos, not for saving the world. But she quickly learned that chefs and other leaders in the restaurant industry are some of the most powerful forces for change in our troubled food system.