Vice Mayor Harrison was elected to the Berkeley City Council in March 2017 after a decades-long career in the public sector. As a public sector consultant, for the past 20 years, Kate has ensured access, legal resources and improved outcomes in foster care, domestic violence, child support and child custody cases in 31 California counties, eight states and fourteen nations. Her prior work experience includes executive positions in the San Francisco and State government, where she helped develop the budget and policies and enhanced access to California’s $1.7 billion-a-year court system.
In office, she has been a champion for the climate, infrastructure, transit, affordable housing, equitable budgeting, and fair and impartial policing. Most recently, she authored first in the nation legislation phasing out natural gas in new buildings, established a climate equity fund to assist low-income residents with transitioning to a zero-carbon future, and has laid the groundwork for equitable incentives for retrofitting existing gas buildings.
Kate is an alumna of UC Berkeley and received her Masters from the Goldman School of Public Policy. As a student activist, she worked on Berkeley’s rent control campaign, protecting tenants from unjust evictions and unreasonable rent increases, formed a statewide coalition to pass California’s first just cause eviction protection, and exposed abuses committed by the FBI for the ACLU.
