Katharine Manning has more than 25 years of experience helping organizations respond effectively to trauma and crisis. For fifteen years, she served as a Senior Attorney Advisor at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she counseled leaders across the country on their response to victims in some of the most high-profile and complex matters of recent decades, including the Boston Marathon bombing, the Madoff investment fraud, the South Carolina AME Church and Pulse nightclub shootings, the federal case against Larry Nassar, and the Charlottesville uprising. In that role, she provided strategic guidance on supporting individuals in times of profound stress while ensuring organizational resilience and integrity.
Today, as President of Blackbird, Katharine advises corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, schools, and law firms on building more compassionate and effective responses to trauma in the workplace. Her clients rely on her deep expertise and practical tools to help them address sensitive issues around employee well-being, compliance, and culture.
She is the author of The Empathetic Workplace: Five Steps to a Compassionate, Calm, and Confident Response to Trauma on the Job (HarperCollins Leadership, 2021), a guide for leaders seeking to support their teams through times of crisis and change. Her insights have been featured in the Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Newsweek, Business Insider, and CNBC.
Katharine is a graduate of Smith College and the University of Virginia School of Law. She teaches at American University and serves as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Excellence in Public Leadership at George Washington University.