Kate Jastram

Kate Jastram is a Lecturer at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, where she serves as the Director of Policy & Advocacy at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies. She has held influential roles at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Refugee Law.

• B.A., San Francisco State University summa cum laude
• M.A., Sarah Lawrence College
• J.D., Berkeley Law

Her research focuses on human rights, immigration, and international law, with a particular emphasis on asylum policy, refugee protection, and the intersection of climate change with cross-border displacement. She has authored works in the International Journal of the Red Cross, Journal of International Criminal Justice, and Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, and contributed to books like Critical Issues in International Refugee Law.

Kate was awarded the Arthur C. Helton Human Rights Award in 2005 for her work with an interdisciplinary team on the USCIRF expedited removal study. She is a prominent figure in the American Society of International Law, serving on the Executive Committee of its International Refugee Law Interest Group.

As Director of Policy & Advocacy at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, she leads initiatives to advance refugee rights and gender-based asylum protections. Her career combines academia, policy advocacy, and legal practice, with contributions to civil immigration detention standards and asylum expertise.