Katharine Gin

Katharine Gin is co-founder and executive director of Immigrants Rising (formerly EDUCATORS FOR FAIR CONSIDERATION), a San-Francisco-based nonprofit whose mission is to empower undocumented young people to achieve their academic and career goals and actively contribute to society. Since 2006, IR has addressed the holistic needs of undocumented young people through direct support, leadership development, community outreach, creative expression, and advocacy.

Katharine is the proud descendant of Chinese immigrants, who first came to the U.S. in the 1860s to work in the gold mines of California and later during the restrictive Chinese Exclusion Acts. She was born and raised in San Francisco and received her BA from Yale University and MFA from the University of Oregon.

For nearly 20 years, Katharine has worked to enhance arts and education opportunities for low-income and minority youth. She has developed innovative programs in schools, housing projects, and detention facilities. Her artistic and educational work with youth has been exhibited and published widely in college textbooks, literary anthologies, magazines, and national newspapers, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and The Harvard Educational Review.

Outside of her work with IR, Katharine serves on the Leadership Committee of the California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC), the National Advisory Board of TheDream.US, and is an advisor to the Nelson Fund at The Silicon Valley Community Foundation, where she has overseen the fund’s philanthropic investments in arts and education since 2001.