KATHERINE PASSLEY

About Kat

Kat, a native of North Miami, joined Beyond the Bars as a member in 2020 after her father’s incarceration. She quickly stepped into leadership, drafting agendas and leading meetings, engaging in policy advocacy, and preparing members for delegation meetings with elected officials. In 2021, she became a staff member of Beyond the Bars, where she brought her intimate knowledge of the prosecutor’s office and local police departments to support members with open criminal cases.

Kat brings more than two decades of experience in faith-based organizing, restorative justice, and transformative justice work. She has been trained in faith-based transformative mediation practices focused on repairing and restoring relationships at home, at work, and within congregations. Now, as Co-Executive Director of Beyond the Bars, Kat leads the organization’s Organizing Department.

Kat’s leadership has been widely recognized. In 2025, In These Times named her Labor Organizer of the Year. Her work has been honored by Florida Memorial University (FMU), Florida International University (FIU), and Legacy South Florida’s Prominent and Influential Black Women in Business and Industry. She has also received fellowships from Howard University and Miami-Dade County’s National Endowment for the Arts, and has led national organizing trainings with Leading Change Network (LCN) and the Formerly Incarcerated People and Families Movement (FICPFM). Kat holds an M.S. from FIU and a B.A. from FMU.