Kate Fox MIDP ’24 receives national leadership award from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency named Kate Fox, a Duke Master of International Development Policy fellow, the recipient of its Suzanne E. Olive Award for Exemplary Leadership in National Equal Employment Opportunity.

The staff award, established in 1993 in honor of Suzanne E. Olive, former deputy director of the Office of Civil Rights, recognizes EPA employees for exemplary achievements and contributions to the agency in fostering and promoting the tenets of equal employment opportunity and civil rights, and for demonstrated commitment to workforce diversity through actions that clearly exceed the responsibilities of their immediate position or assignment.

Fox, who worked as a public engagement and outreach strategist for the EPA for four years prior to starting the MIDP program, received recognition for designing and implementing innovative tools, strategies and branding to increase equity, diversity and inclusion in the EPA’s outreach process.

A nominator wrote Fox was “instrumental in changing the way the agency participates in and conducts recruitment events, ensuring equity and inclusion is a top priority.”

Fox, a Coverdell Peace Corps Fellow, served in the U.S. Peace Corps, where she wrote four USAID grants and designed a variety of projects alongside her Tanzanian counterparts. She worked to educate Tanzanian communities on the benefits of Orange Fleshed Sweet Potatoes for Vitamin A consumption, partnered with a women’s micro-lending group, and designed food security trainings in both English and Swahili. She graduated from North Carolina State University with a B.A. in International Economy and Environment and studied Arabic at Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan and Spanish at Maximo Nivel language school in Cusco, Peru. She is focusing her MIDP studies on the efficacy of diplomatic engagement strategies and culturally competent aid messaging in development initiatives.