
About Katherine
Katherine Ellison has more than 30 years of wide-ranging experience in digging for facts, framing messages, and producing vivid prose. From 1984-99, Ellison reported for Knight Ridder Newspapers, winning several awards including a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. Since then, she has authored, co-authored, and ghost-written ten books and worked as a communication consultant and speechwriter for clients including Bill Gates, major Silicon Valley investors, the Ford, Packard, and Irvine foundations and Cater Communications.
Katherine's Latest Book
Mothers & Murderers
What is the single most humiliating mistake you’ve ever made?
Katherine Ellison has a good one: At 23 years old, barely one year into her first job as a newspaper reporter, she mis-paraphrased a prosecutor in a major murder trial, making it seem as if a woman who hadn’t been charged with any crime was guilty of plotting a murder.
Speaking
Ellison is an accomplished public speaker, who has addressed groups and conferences in the United States, Mexico, Spain, Canada, and Australia, on issues including environmental conservation and learning disorders. Past venues include the Tufts University psychiatry department, Kaiser Permanente’s ADHD Best Practices committee, the Parents Education Network, and the Brandon Hall private school in Atlanta.
Selected Articles
Philanthropies flow funds to climate technologies
The Washington Post, October 2020
Caregivers of elderly loved ones face heavy emotional, physical, financial toll
The Washington Post, September 2020
Stress from the pandemic can destroy relationships with friends — even families
The Washington Post, August 2020
Digital disease surveillance: Tracking a pandemic
Knowable Magazine, April 2020