Cathryn Oakley is the state legislative director and senior counsel at the Human Rights Campaign, where she is responsible for advising legislators and advocates working to enact laws that further LGBTQ equality. She focuses in particular on passing non-discrimination laws at the state and local levels and combating anti-LGBTQ legislation in state legislatures, including bills preventing municipalities from passing non-discrimination ordinances, bills that would give state agents the ability to deny service from LGBTQ people, and anti-transgender legislation that limits the ability of transgender people - including students - to access facilities in accordance with their gender identity.

Cathryn earned her law degree from the George Mason University School of Law and is a member of the Virginia Bar. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Smith College, where she was a Research Fellow at the Louise W. and Edmund J. Kahn Liberal Arts Institute. Prior to working at the Human Rights Campaign, Cathryn practiced family law in Northern Virginia.