Katherine Valle-Palacios, senior vice president of public policy, oversees the development of public policies designed to advance Strada’s mission and led the development of its first public policy agenda, which informs the foundation’s advocacy at the federal and state levels.
Valle-Palacios has spent more than 10 years working on federal education policy. Most recently, she worked for the Domestic Policy Council at the White House as the special assistant to the president on education. In this role, she oversaw President Joe Biden’s K-12 and higher education agenda across the federal government and worked closely with the U.S. Department of Education on administration priorities, including student loan debt relief and rules to hold colleges accountable.
Valle-Palacios also spent five years working for the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor, where she began as an education policy advisor and ultimately became the director of education policy. Valle-Palacios served in several research analyst roles for the Institute for Higher Education Policy and spent time in the Dominican Republic as a Peace Corps volunteer.
Valle-Palacios earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and two master's degrees from the University of Michigan.