Kathleen Gille serves as a Training Associate for “Working with Congress.”

During most of her 20 years on Capitol Hill, Kathy worked as one of the top aides in the leadership of the House of Representatives.  As Senior Advisor for Policy and Communications to the Democratic Whip, David Bonior, she supervised long-term strategy on legislation and the media as well as the day-to-day details of vote-counting and floor procedure. 

Kathy began her Congressional career in 1981 as a Legislative Assistant specializing in foreign policy and human rights but gradually turned her attention to the inner workings of the Congress itself.  She served as Associate Staff to Congressmen Bonior on the House Rules Committee and then, in 1987, moved on to become Executive Floor Assistant, a job that put her in the thick of legislative strategy and leadership decision-making.  She also has extensive experience with the electoral side of politics, having volunteered to work on political campaigns at the local, state and national level for more than 30 years.

Over the years, Kathy has helped educate a variety of groups on how to work more effectively with Congress.  She has briefed nonprofit groups on Congressional policy, procedure and strategy.  She participated as a guest lecturer with the Brookings Institution’s Center for Public Policy Education, the National Democratic Institute, the Congress-Bundestag Exchange Program and at various universities.

She has been profiled in The Almanac of the Unelected: Staff of the U.S. Congress and was named one of Roll Call’s “Fabulous Fifty: The Movers and Shakers Behind the Scenes on Capitol Hill.”

Born in Michigan, Kathy received her B.A. (1976) and M.A. (1979) in Political Science from the University of Chicago. She is married to Rev. W. Douglas Tanner, Jr., President of The Faith and Politics Institute.     

Kathleen Gille
Training Associate