Kate Peterson

Senior Attorney, Democracy 2025

Kathrina S. (Kate) Peterson is a Senior Attorney with Democracy 2025 at Democracy Forward.

Kate is a seasoned federal policy and grants expert with over a decade of experience advancing justice for crime victims. As a Senior Policy Advisor with the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) within the U.S. Department of Justice, she provided strategic counsel to the OVC Director and key stakeholders on national policy, legal, and administrative matters affecting federal crime victim programs.

Kate spearheaded the DOJ’s rulemaking initiative to modernize the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Compensation Rule, enhancing equity and accessibility within the federal compensation framework. As former Director of OVC’s State Victim Resource Division, she supervised over 350 VOCA programs totaling $7.8 billion in federal funding.

Since joining OVC in 2014 as an attorney advisor, Kate has served in multiple leadership capacities, including Acting Director of the National Program Division, Human Trafficking Team, Tribal Team, and Mass Violence Response Team. Her oversight of the VOCA Victim Assistance Rule earned her the 2016 Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General’s Employee of the Year Award.

Kate’s DOJ career began in the Criminal Division’s Office of Enforcement Operations, collaborating with prosecutors on wiretap investigations. She subsequently served in the Office on Violence Against Women, managing grant programs and contributing to the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Working Group, which developed national standards to combat sexual assault in correctional facilities.

Her legal foundation was built in private practice specializing in domestic violence cases, litigating contested matters in state and federal courts. She served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Judith Bartnoff of the Superior Court for the District of Columbia and as a Teaching Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center’s Domestic Violence Clinic.

Kate continues her commitment to victim advocacy through the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center, providing legal representation to domestic violence survivors. A lifelong Washington, D.C. resident and proud Jackson-Reed High School graduate, she lives with her two children, two dogs, and two cats.

She holds a Masters of Law (LL.M.) in Advocacy from Georgetown University Law Center, a Juris Doctorate from Northeastern University School of Law, and a Bachelors of Art (magna cum laude) from the University of Colorado, Boulder.