Katy Venskus

founding Partner

Katy Venskus is a Founding Partner of Ampersand Education. As the leader of Ampersand’s Advocacy team, she offers clients strategic guidance and tactical expertise to create the political and policy conditions that support quality school growth and impactful education policy. She brings 15 years of experience in advocacy strategy and implementation of grassroots and direct advocacy in a variety of political contexts. Katy’s expertise allows her to lead and support every phase of an advocacy project, from the initial planning stages to coalition and organization management, and boots on the ground support.

Katy dedicates most of her time at Ampersand to supporting and managing advocacy investments on behalf of several national and regional funders, including coordination of all charter advocacy investments in Washington, D.C. Ampersand Education has helped shape some of the most exciting advocacy opportunities in education reform across the nation, from supporting the creation of new parent advocacy organizations to catalyzing a national discussion of using policy to jump start private school growth.

Before founding Ampersand Education, Katy worked in and out of government advancing a variety of interests on behalf of diverse organizations, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to education nonprofits. In the last ten years, she earned a reputation as an education policy expert by leading city, state, and national education initiatives on behalf of Democrats for Education Reform, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, and Rocketship Education.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Katy studied political science and public policy. She spends most of her time living and working in Washington, D.C., but her heart will always be back in her native Wisconsin with the underrated football Badgers, and “always in it” Green Bay Packers.