An American designer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and fashion model, Katherine has built a career based on the marriage of creativity and charity.
She has received a Fulbright Specialist Program award for university business education advisory work in the Middle East and is the founder of two small ethical luxury businesses: Katherine Parr Jewelry and Parré Chocolat.
Her background includes private and public sector work: discovered as a fashion model by Patrick Demarchelier after university graduation, she spent years in the international fashion industry, working with top global brands and agencies and in-house for designers. CNN World News dubbed her the “Model-Teacher” when she left her fashion career to spend over five years in a Title One District in New Jersey as a teacher and in program development.
Katherine is a designer and artist: Katherine Parr Jewelry and her artworks have been exhibited at Clarence House in London for HM King Charles III, The Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C. exhibited at galleries and sold at museums, including the Morgan Library and Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Her jewelry has been owned and worn by Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward, violinist Joshua Bell, and Rafael Nadal, and featured on magazine covers, including Elle and L’Officiel.
In spring 2025, Katherine is launching a collection of carpets, currently being handmade by talented female weavers in Afghanistan, as part of a project supported by the Qatar Fund for Development and Turquoise Mountain NGO.
Katherine advises charities in education, including Education for Employment, Custom Collaborative, and the Town of Palm Beach United Way and has represented UNICEF in its education programs for global citizenship.
Her TEDx Talk "The Road to Economic Empowerment is Conscious Consumerism," is featured on TED.com and was translated into eleven languages. It was removed from TED.com at the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021 and has since been reinstated.