Katherine Chon

Katherine Chon is the founding director of the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) and senior advisor on human trafficking at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families.  OTIP is responsible for developing strategies and implementing programs to prevent trafficking, increase victim identification and access to services, and strengthen the health and well-being of survivors.  OTIP also collaborates with government and nongovernment partners to raise public awareness, identify research priorities, and inform policy recommendations to strengthen the Nation’s public health response to human trafficking.  

As director, Katherine leads OTIP, determines eligibility for services for foreign national survivors of human trafficking, and serves as the federal executive officer of the National Advisory Committee on the Trafficking of Children and Youth.  As senior advisor, Katherine serves on multiple federal interagency working groups on gender-based violence, child exploitation, and forced labor including under the Senior Policy Operating Group of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. 

Prior to her government service, Katherine was the co-founder and President of Polaris.  She serves on the President’s Advisory Council of the Brown University Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice.  Katherine received a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, and Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Brown University.