Kathryn Peters

Kathryn Peters is an independent strategist and technologist who works to create a more engaged, inclusive democracy. She is currently imagining the potential of local politics, smaller social media communities, and more human-scale communication to revitalize our public discourse. Kathryn was the inaugural executive director for UNC’s Center for Information, Technology, & Public Life (CITAP), where she worked to connect CITAP’s research with the policymakers, advocates, journalists, technologists, and public who shape our civic and public lives online. Prior to joining CITAP, Kathryn co-founded the nonprofit Democracy Works and served as its chief operating officer as it grew to serve millions of voters, leading the initial development of its TurboVote and How to Vote tools and the organization’s adoption of the Voting Information Project. Her earlier work in participatory governance includes campaign organizing in southeast Missouri, political rights monitoring in Afghanistan, and teaching digital security practices to activists from around the globe.