Katherine Toy is a policymaker, nonprofit executive, and educator dedicated to building civically engaged communities. She made history when Governor Gavin Newsom appointed her first-ever Deputy Secretary for Access to the California Natural Resources Agency where she spearheaded the state’s Outdoors for All strategy, the nation’s first statewide strategy for equitable access to the outdoors.

Katherine’s deep belief in the ability of “everyday people to make history every day” has shaped her career. She has spent more than 30 years working to increase access, belonging and participation in public and civic spaces and institutions -- from teaching history to championing volunteer engagement, to building “Parks for All” as Executive Vice President and Deputy CEO of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. Katherine’s knowledge and experience with public lands, history, and untold stories began when she became the first Executive Director of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, championing the restoration and interpretation of the historic U.S. Immigration Station at Angel Island State Park. She has served on several boards and commissions, including the Advisory Board for the Office of Community Engagement at Stanford University (current), the National Advisory Board of the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University, the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, and the State Parks and Recreation Commission.

Based in Hawaii and San Francisco, California, Katherine holds a BA and MA from Stanford University.