White House Author

Katherine Vargas is the Director of Hispanic Media at the White House. She spearheads efforts to engage Hispanic media, coordinating with all federal agencies on promoting the President’s agenda with the Hispanic community. Katherine has been at the forefront of immigration reform efforts for almost a decade. Prior to joining the White House, she led media and communications efforts for the National Immigration Forum, where she managed strategic communications, messaging and brand positioning for the Forum, including the Forum's national political and legislative campaigns to pass immigration legislation that positively impacts the lives of New Americans. Katherine was the spokesperson for the Forum in Spanish language media and she was a frequent guest commentator on major Spanish television outlets, including Univision, Telemundo and CNN en Español. Prior to the Forum, she worked at the National Immigration Law Center, the Washington Office of Latin America, both in Washington, D.C, and the International Rescue Committee in Miami, FL.

Katherine is a member of Truman national Security Project, a national security leadership institute that recruits, trains, and positions a new generation of progressives across America to lead on national security. She was also a Board member of Enlaces con Raíces, an organization that works to strengthen nonprofit organizations in Latin America through capacity-building.

Katherine immigrated to the United States from her native Colombia in 1997. Katherine and her husband Eric live in Washington, D.C. She has a bachelor's degree in International Relations with a concentration on Latin American Studies from Florida International University.