Her Story
About Katherine
Katherine Davis is a retired English teacher with extensive experience teaching English and citizenship classes to adult immigrants. She taught at Fairfax for 15 years, helping Russian Jewish immigrants achieve citizenship, and also worked with Latino students. Davis earned an English Literature degree from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon in 1967 and holds a lifetime adult teaching credential from UCLA Extension. She attended Santa Monica College and began a mythology program with a depth psychology focus at Pacifica graduate school but did not complete it due to family circumstances. In addition to her teaching career, Davis has been active in her community as a member of Westwood Presbyterian Church, where she sang in the choir for 30 years and supported charities including People Assisting the Homeless, a child share program, and the food bank. She is also a member of the Magic Castle and maintains a poetry website called Electric Cat Woman on WordPress. Davis attributes her success to imagination and grit, emphasizing the importance of perseverance, creating one's future, and building supportive communities. She advises young women entering teaching to learn another language, such as Spanish, and believes in combining talents with work that inspires and brings happiness.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Katherine
01What do you attribute your success to?
Imagination and grit. You just keep going no matter what happens. We lost a house, there were difficulties at different times, but you just keep going, and you recreate, you keep creating your future, and you bring people in to support you, and you support them. Always had shared experiences and great friends who support each other in goals.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
To do something that inspires you, that makes you happy. To do something where you combine your talents with your work.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Learn another language, Spanish.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Budgets are cut, they don't care about immigrants, people are afraid to go to school because of ICE. Not recognizing the importance of education in terms of building a future for the young people of our country. Supporting communities with education. Every other country has free education.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being an extrovert who cares about what's happening with people and checks in to make sure they're okay. Believing in inspiration and imagination, where storytelling comes in. The story, and you can rewrite your own story, and sometimes crisis really does equal opportunity. The Joseph Campbell thing, your world breaks apart, and it's an opening to a new world.
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