Meet Mary Kate

We're continuing the introductions of our valuable team this week. Please meet our newest addition, Mary Kate. 

Hi! My name is Mary Kate Leister and I am the Victim Coordinator at Marsy’s Law for Iowa. I graduated from Loras College (Go Duhawks!) with a BA in Social Work in 2016. During my last semester at Loras, I dedicated my capstone project to human trafficking. Through this project, I had the opportunity to lobby at the Capitol for new laws to fight trafficking in the state of Iowa. This was my first taste of policy related work, and I fell in love. This experience is what pushed me to strive to become a macro-level social worker.  

After graduating from Loras, I began working with teenagers and young adults experiencing homelessness, human trafficking, addiction, sexual assault, and domestic violence. I witnessed first-hand how broken and hurtful the system can be to people experiencing crimes. Again, my passion for policy and systematic change became enflamed.   

I decided to pursue my Master’s Degree in Social Work and I recently graduated from the University of Missouri (GO TIGERS!) MSW program with an emphasis on Policy and Administration. While pursuing my MSW, I worked with a human trafficking prevention program in the state of Iowa. I worked with primarily teenagers and met victims and survivors across the state of Iowa. Anti-trafficking work is one of my passions that I continue to pursue with in my position at Marsy’s Law.

Currently, I am an avenue for victims and survivors across the state to share their story. I serve as a resource to victims, survivors, and agencies that may come in contact with them. I am very excited about this new opportunity to help create real systemic change for victims, survivors, and their loved ones.

I can be reached at [email protected].