Board of Directors

Cathy Allen

Cathy Allen

Eighteen years ago Cathy Allen opened one of the first political consulting companies focused on electing women to office. Some 650 winning campaigns later, Cathy's Seattle-based company - The Connections Group - has now worked in 23 countries, electing record-setting numbers of women in the Middle East, Africa, Mexico and South America, Canada - and even in her own Washington state.

Washington state was the first state where women attained 40% representation in the state legislature. It elected two women as U.S. Senators and elected a woman governor. Washington was also the first to have five of the nine Supreme Court Justices women.

A Democratic political strategist, a political pundit for Seattle's NBC-TV affiliate, a leader on the Board of the American Association of Political Consultants, Cathy has also been the National Vice-President of the National Women's Political Caucus. She co-founded the Center for Women and Democracy located at the University of Washington , encouraging young women to be leaders no matter where they land. In addition, Cathy specializes in women's training and trade missions to countries encouraging women's leadership such as Morocco, Jordan, Qatar, Yemen, Angola, and Algeria.

Cathy has also authored two books: "Political Campaigning: A New Decade" which predicted the year of the woman in 1992, and "Taking Back Politics: An Insider's Guide to Winning." A former New York Times reporter, Cathy's company helps government agencies, private companies and non-profit groups target women, develop messages friendly to women, and deliver program action plans that resonate with women.

Though still an avid Red Sox fan, Cathy has learned to love the Seattle Mariners, and has restored a 100 year old home on top of Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood where one can frequently find Kennedy School classmates, Alaskans, her far-flung New England relatives and young people looking for a break in politics.

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