Katharine Lusk
Fireside #3 Moderator
Katharine Lusk is Co-Director and Founding Executive Director of the Boston University Initiative on Cities which spearheads university-wide programs and research, including the national Menino Survey of Mayors, place-based experiential learning for students and multi-stakeholder events. She has a track record of discipline-spanning research collaboration with public health researchers, environmental scientists, social workers, political scientists, data scientists and public officials. Katharine was a Policy Advisor to late Boston Mayor Tom Menino, where she led his work to make Boston the best city in the country for working women. She created the Boston Women’s Workforce Council, a unique collaborative governance partnership focused on closing the gender wage gap, and later served on the Council for many years as a mayoral appointee. Prior to entering public service, Katharine spent a decade as a brand strategist and researcher for Fortune 500 companies. She earned a Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a BA from Williams College.