Katie Naranjo was born and raised in Lufkin, Texas – where her grandmother took her to volunteer on her first campaign at the age of six for Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign for President. Making calls and knocking on doors, Katie learned the importance of grassroots volunteers and local communities. Since becoming elected president of the College Democrats of America last August, Katie’s never forgotten those simple rules.

As a fourth generation Longhorn at the University of Texas, Katie served as president of the Texas College Democrats started a paid internship program helping dozens of students work at the capitol. She guided volunteers to work on over 20 campaigns – accumulating over 2,000 hours of volunteer time.

So in 2006, with some hard work and encouragement from friends, Katie ran successfully for National Programs Director of the College Democrats of America (CDA). In 2007, she organized CDA's National Lobby Day for College Affordability - leading more than 100 students to Capitol Hill to talk about the rising costs of college.

In 2008, Katie ran for President of College Democrats of America and was elected unanimously at the National Convention in Denver, Colorado. During the historic 2008 election, Katie and the CDA Executive Board organized thousands of College Democrats who traveled across the country and campaigned for President Barack Obama. Katie also launched the Respect Our Vote campaign – a national initiative to protect students on campuses from voter intimidation.

This year, Katie led CDA to host the first national winter policy conference in Washington, DC during President Obama’s Inauguration. As president, Katie has also launched the No Desk Left Open campaign to address the continued burden of tuition costs on working families during these tough economic times. Katie continues to blog about the economy, college tuition and young people’s experiences in the job market at the Huffington Post. She is also frequent blogger for Texas’s largest political blogs, Burnt Orange Report and Texas Blue, and has appeared on FOX News, CNN, Dallas Morning News, Austin-American Statesman and the documentary 18 in 08.

Katie graduated in 2009 from the University of Texas with a B.A.-B.S. in Government and Public Relations.