Kathleen Koch

After facing down presidents, snipers, hurricanes, and her own teenaged daughters, Kathleen Koch is a journalist, author, and resilience expert who imparts her knowledge, experience, and compassion to audiences intent on thriving in challenging situations.

Kathleen Koch draws on her 18 years as a correspondent for CNN, covering high-profile beats including the White House, Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and State Department, as well as aviation and numerous disasters. Her exceptional reporting on Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent documentaries on her hometown's recovery earned her a Peabody Award and a New York Festivals gold medal. She also received a New York Festivals gold medal and a bronze award from the New York Association of Black Journalists for her investigative reporting on the apparent murder of a young African American inmate by guards at a Mississippi jail.

Kathleen Koch shares insights she developed while writing her book, "Rising from Katrina: How My Mississippi Hometown Lost It All and Found What Mattered." The book, which details the impact of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent recovery, appeared on the Amazon and Southern Indie Bestseller lists and won multiple awards, including Best Nonfiction in the Southeast Region from Independent Publishers. In addition to her writing, Koch is the founder and executive director of LeadersLink, an organization dedicated to sharing disaster recovery lessons learned by elected officials to aid other communities. She has also been active on the international front, leading efforts to support disaster survivors in Japan and the Philippines through the collection and distribution of thousands of letters.

Before joining CNN, Kathleen Koch was a general assignment reporter covering Washington, D.C., for multiple news organizations and served as an anchor and State Department correspondent for "America Today," the U.S. Information Agency's two-hour daily international news broadcast to Europe. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi, where she currently serves on the Advisory Board for the School of Mass Communications and Journalism. Throughout her career, Koch has demonstrated a strong ability to connect with diverse audiences, including CEOs, foreign leaders, and children, ensuring engaging and informative discussions.