Katie Whittier Will Build Up the Firm’s Washington State Legislative Practice
Katie Whittier has joined CFM to represent clients before the Washington State Legislature and assist the firm’s federal lobby team in Washington, DC. She also is experienced in strategic communications, political organizing and community engagement.
As Vice President for Washington State Affairs, Whittier will recruit and represent new clients as well as assist with the firm’s growing roster of federal clients that have state-level issues or opportunities. “CFM is adept at leveraging relationships at all levels of government to incentivize investments through matching dollars,” she says “By deepening our Olympia relationships, I can amplify this leverage.”
“It’s an ideal time to invest in Olympia because more than
40 percent of the legislature has turned over since 2020.”
“It’s an ideal time to invest in Olympia because more than 40 percent of the legislature has turned over since 2020,” Whittier explains. “With many new faces going into the 2025 session, including a new governor and just about every state agency director, it is especially critical to bring the steadying voices of our local government and nonprofit clients.”
CFM Partner Joel Rubin said, “Katie has already proven she is a great team member who will enhance our staff capability and build a strong base of clients who have issues at the state legislature.”
Idaho Native. Political Veteran.
A native of Idaho, Whitter cut her teeth in politics as the University of Idaho’s student government lobbyist at the legislature in Boise. “I fought funding battles, supported safety-related policies and, most important, learned the sausage-making process that is the legislative system.” She earned degrees in music and sociology.
Whittier returned the following legislative session as a senate staffer for the health and welfare and natural resources committees, which then led to her first full-time professional lobbying job on behalf of the American Cancer Society.
She left lobbying to jump into the 2008 presidential primary, landing a job with the Barack Obama campaign and leading field efforts across Idaho’s sprawling First Congressional District.
“On Super Tuesday 2008,” Whittier recalls, “I helped staff the largest caucus in the nation. Nearly 8,500 people showed up at Boise’s hockey arena helping Obama sweep the caucus. David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, wrote in his book The Audacity to Win that Idaho’s delegates helped secure his nomination.”
Political work took Whittier to Washington and eventually to a spot on Senator Patty Murray’s field staff in Southwest Washington and later in King County
“Then, I did the unthinkable: I left politics,” she recalls. “For the next decade, I honed my skills as a communications professional, working as a marketing consultant, an in-house public information officer, managing crisis communications, advising on community engagement and publishing magazines, websites, blog posts and more.”
Among her acquired skills was grant writing, which, she said “brought opportunities to collaborate with CFM, first as a subcontractor writing RAISE, CRISI and other federal grants, and now as a full-time staff member.”
“Building on a solid foundation of existing clients, I am especially interested in lobbying for clients who serve the public good such as local government agencies, nonprofits and other public benefit organizations,” Whittier says. “CFM is a great fit because public service has always been the heart and soul of the firm’s philosophy. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be back in politics after a decade away, thanks to a team as authentic and effective as this one is.”
“Outside of legislative sessions, you’re likely to run into me on a hike, at a winery, in a kayak or at a writers’ retreat,” she says. “More likely, though, I’m curled up at home binging on news of the latest volcanic eruption or learning about the nervous system. Got a question about your brain? Ask me. I love to talk nerdy.”
Whittier lives in Tumwater, a short drive from Olympia. She is a Seattle Seahawks fan, yells at the Seattle Mariners and is a true Northwesterner who complains about the rain. She also welcomes good book recommendations.
