Kate Benward obtained B.A. degrees in comparative literature, French, and philosophy from the University of Washington, Seattle. She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study literature at the University of Montreal, and thereafter obtained an M.A. in comparative literature from New York University. She received her J.D. from the University of Washington, Seattle in 2010. She worked a public defender in Washington State before joining the DPA in 2011 as a Public Defender Corps Fellow.