Kate Leone is the senior vice president of government relations and a member of the Feeding America executive team. In her role, Kate oversees public policy, government relations and advocacy teams and leads our efforts to advance Feeding America’s policy priorities through legislative and regulatory initiatives — working with Congress, federal agencies and the White House.
Prior to joining Feeding America, Kate served as general counsel for U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s (D-NH) office. Before that, she spent 12 years as the chief health counsel to Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). During her time with Senator Reid, Kate covered health care for the Leader and served as the lead staffer on health reform and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — an act she played an instrumental role in shaping and passing in the Senate. Other reform legislation Kate led for Senator Reid includes the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Amendments Act, and the FDA Safety and Innovations Act.
Kate has also served as counsel to the previous Senate Democratic Leader, Tom Daschle (D-SD), and worked as a senior policy advisor on the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. Her additional experience includes working on health care matters as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.
Kate holds a bachelor’s in American Studies from Cornell University and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law. She’s an active member of the President’s Council of Cornell Women and currently lives in Washington, DC.