Katherine Robles-Ayala (she/her/hers)

Katherine Robles-Ayala, Development Director, oversees the Budget Center’s development and fundraising efforts, including philanthropic and individual donor fundraising strategies – all through a public policy-focused, community-centric, and anti-racist lens. Katherine uplifts the Budget Center’s work and strategizes how to build connections across multiple groups of people to maximize support for low-income communities of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ Californians through progressive policy recommendations and partnerships.

Before joining the Budget Center in 2023, Katherine worked on uplifting the community power of people often left out of the financial mainstream: low-income, BIPOC, and immigrant families. At the Mission Asset Fund, Katherine mobilized $100M+ in resources for Californians left out of federal relief efforts amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Katherine is currently on the board of Performing Arts Workshop – a nonprofit working to provide equitable arts education to youth throughout the Bay Area. Katherine holds a bachelor of arts degree in music and German studies from Wellesley College.

Katherine was born and raised in Oakland, but has more recently started calling Sacramento home. Outside of the office, Katherine enjoys arts and crafts, spending time with cats and dogs, and hosting movie nights with lots of snacks.