Kathryn Walter, CAP, is a Senior Operations Research Analyst who works on mathematical models supporting better decision making at Avista Corporation, a utilities company in Spokane, WA. She is a former optimization consultant and a former military officer. She received MS and BS degrees in operations research from Columbia University and the US Coast Guard Academy, respectively. Kathryn currently serves on the Analytics Certification Board, is a former board member of INFORMS (the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences), and was the chair of the 2024 INFORMS Analytics Conference.