Katie Kirchner

Prior to joining Roosevelt, during college, Katie spent four years working with Kid Power, Inc., where her various roles included leading after-school and summer programming focused on civics education and nutrition and sustainability; served as the chapter head at Roosevelt @ American; and was a member of multiple campus organizing efforts including Education not Debt and Fossil Free AU. Katie has a BA in Public Communications and Urban Education Studies from American University.
Why This Matters: Acting Locally in the Absence of Higher Leadership
The climate crisis is happening now. Across the planet, our oceans are warming, our weather is more extreme, and natural disasters are more frequent and more severe. And it’s only going to get worse: The UN predicts that by 2040, increased coastal flooding will affect nearly 50 million people, and a “disproportionately rapid evacuation” of
- Published in Blog, Education, Energy & Environment
Roosevelt Network: Changing Communities from Within
“I look at the world differently since becoming a Roosevelter.” Last year at this time, Deondre Morris had just gotten his acceptance into the 2018-2019 Forge Fellowship, one of Roosevelt’s training programs that help community college and public university students across the Midwest and South develop organizing and policy leadership. Deondre was one of nine
- Published in Blog, Roosevelt @
Launching the Second Decade of 10 Ideas
President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said that “government is ourselves.” Throughout American democracy, however, far too many communities have been denied political power and have seen government power deployed against them. This reality has been made clear at the federal, state, and local levels through intensified anti-immigrant policies, attacks on reproductive care for women, a
- Published in Blog, Roosevelt @
Reclaiming Public Power in Local Communities: The Forge Fellowship Year 2
In America, we are told that government is “of the people, by the people, for the people.” But this has never been true for all people. Since our nation’s founding, communities across the country have been shut out of political institutions that are supposed to work for the public good. Without the voices of these
- Published in Blog, Education, homepage-slider, Roosevelt @, Video
The Roosevelt Network Celebrates 14 Years
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” —Eleanor Roosevelt Fourteen years ago, a group of students recognized something important: who writes the rules matters. They dreamed of a world where voices from communities historically left out of the policy process would be instrumental in orchestrating their own futures. With
- Published in Blog, homepage-slider, Roosevelt @
Economic Policy after the Midterms—What’s Next for a Progressive Agenda?
In today’s chaotic political environment, it’s hard to have a serious debate about economic policy, despite its deep and real impact on people’s lives. But we seem to be at a turning point as Americans look for credible answers to the economic insecurity so many of us feel. On November 13, join Roosevelt President and
- Published in Events, homepage-slider, Past
The Next Generation of Network Leadership
Today, I am honored to step into the role of National Director of the Roosevelt Network. Nearly 15 years after the Network’s founding, we’re operating in a dysfunctional and chaotic political climate where the wealthiest and most privileged among us have consolidated power among themselves. As a result, we’re seeing the privatization of key public
- Published in Blog, homepage-slider, Roosevelt @