Kate Garman Burns was appointed to NVTC on April 29, 2026 to represent the Commonwealth of Virginia as a principal director of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Board of Directors.  She also serves as a member of the NVTC Executive Committee and the NVTC WMATA Committee.

Ms. Burns served as Executive Director at MetroLab Network beginning in 2022. She brought this work to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), now leading the MetroLab policy team as director. Before joining, she was a senior associate at Cityfi, a firm focused on fostering innovation and new thinking in the urban environment. Previously, she was a part of two mayoral administrations. Kate was the technology policy advisor for Mayor Jenny Durkan in Seattle, WA. And before moving to Seattle, she was the innovation policy advisor for Mayor Sly James in Kansas City, MO. These roles shared similar missions and values, including drafting new regulatory schemas for transportation networks and short term rentals, as well as implementing and promoting privacy and surveillance regulations. She sits on the board of the Coleridge Initiative.

Ms. Burns has a juris doctorate from the University of Missouri Kansas City, and a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Kansas. Kate lives in Arlington, VA with her family that includes two young humans and a joyful, yet demanding dog.