Kate Phillips-Barrasso leads Mercy Corps’ strategy to influence the policy and practice of global bilateral and multilateral institutions and donors. She sets our global advocacy vision in partnership with teams across Washington, DC, Edinburgh, London, and the Hague. She is also responsible for supporting Mercy Corps teams in our countries of operation in the development of local policy and advocacy strategies, and building capacity across the organization globally for strategic use of advocacy to achieve our mission.

Prior to joining Mercy Corps, Kate served as the Director of Humanitarian Policy with InterAction, during which time she led the development of policy positions and advocacy efforts of the NGO community on issues ranging from humanitarian financing, to the impact of counter-terror measures on humanitarian action to improving NGO partnership with United Nations agencies.

Previously, Kate held several roles with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) including Acting Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, and Senior Director of Global Humanitarian Policy. While at IRC, she led and coordinated policy development and engagement around the World Humanitarian Summit and the United Nations Summit on Migrants and Refugees. She also worked for several years as a Senior Policy Advisor at CARE, leading the organization’s efforts to influence the U.S government’s humanitarian and development policies. In 2015, she was nominated for the “Excellence in Advocacy Award” by the Professional Women in Advocacy Network.

Kate holds a Master of Arts in International Development Studies from The George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs and a Bachelor of Science from the University of California at Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources.