Kathy Orellana

Associate, Public Policy

Kathy Orellana, Associate for Public Policy, joined Burness in May 2011 and primarily works on initiatives focused on children’s issues and the social determinants of health. She regularly works with clients like the Afterschool Alliance, Aspen Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Virginia Commonwealth University’s Center on Society and Health, and supports them through legislative monitoring, policymaker and stakeholder outreach, research, and writing. She has also developed in-person and virtual advocacy trainings for researchers, education and community leaders, and public health officials.

Prior to Burness, Kathy interned at TwinLogic Strategies, a bi-partisan lobbying firm where she assisted with planning political events and research for corporate and non-profit clients. Kathy also worked as a clerk for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration and spent a year teaching foreign languages at a preschool.

She attended St. Mary’s College of Maryland, majoring in Political Science and Latin American Studies. Having lived in several Latin American countries and a native of El Salvador, she is fluent in Spanish and proficient in French.