
Katie Symansky-Hunter
Katie is the Hostage US Program Manager and oversees the delivery of support to captives and their families.
Previously, Katie worked with Médecins Sans Frontier (MSF) throughout Africa and Southeast Asia. During this time, Katie worked with medical teams throughout South Sudan as the country was entering into a civil war following its independence from Sudan. She’s worked in both Nyararagusu and Nduta refugee camps in Tanzania, working with Burundian and Congolese refugees to provide medical care, water, and sanitation logistical support to the community. Katie also worked alongside the Myanmar government to provide mobile medical teams to rural villages throughout northwest Myanmar. Prior to MSF, Katie was the Marketing and Events Director for Boys and Girls Clubs and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, where she focused on large-scale fundraising events in New Mexico and collaborated with state officials to bring programming to underserved communities throughout Central New Mexico.
Katie holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin with an emphasis on nonprofit strategic management and a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of New Mexico. Katie’s NGO career started with a small organization in Suva, Fiji, securing funding through the Fijian government to support children with vision and auditory impairments. This led Katie to a desire to continue working with underserved populations around the world.