Kat’s journey into venture capital began with a front-row seat to the 2008 financial crisis when her family experienced firsthand how fragile and far-reaching the failures of the financial system could be. “It gave me a visceral understanding of just how embedded financial services are in people’s everyday lives,” she says. The experience sparked a conviction that these systems shouldn’t just function better; they should serve people more fairly and transparently. 

That belief now fuels her work at Lightspeed, where she partners with early-stage fintech founders reimagining the financial services stack.

Kat began her career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where she led annual stress tests and analyzed systemic risk across major financial institutions. But over time, she came to believe that the most transformative change wouldn’t come from inside the system, but from the innovators building outside of it. That realization set her on a path into fintech and venture, where she could back the founders pushing the industry forward. 

Before joining Lightspeed, Kat was an investor at Upfront Ventures, where she spent four years investing in early-stage companies across fintech and vertical AI. Drawn to Lightspeed’s thesis-driven approach and commitment to long-term partnerships, she quickly found alignment with the firm’s fintech vision and founder-first culture. 

Kat brings an analytical edge and operational empathy to her work, grounded in her time at the Fed and honed through years of high-velocity early-stage investing. “I’m always trying to be three steps ahead,” she says. “Risk is inevitable, but if you’re thinking deeply and iterating quickly, you can see around corners.”

Her approach is defined by hustle, empathy, and shared ambition. “I believe investors should reflect the same grit and resilience they expect from the founders they back.”

The daughter of immigrants who rebuilt their lives while pursuing graduate degrees in North America, Kat moved frequently as a child before landing in the Bay Area — experiences that taught her to adapt quickly, embrace discomfort, and find common ground in unfamiliar environments. “Moving around felt hard at the time,” she reflects. “But I had a firsthand look at how innovation can create opportunity and how powerful it is when people are willing to do the hard thing.”

In her free time, you’ll find Kat rediscovering old hobbies and leaning into new ones, from skiing to clay wheel throwing. “Learning a new craft is a constant reminder: everyone starts at zero. The only way through is to stay disciplined and get comfortable being uncomfortable.”