Victoria Kuketz
2025-2026 Columbia University Scholar

Canada
Digital Democracy Fellow, Public Policy Forum
Tackling polarization and strengthening democracy by building bridges between communities and public policy leadership through nonpartisan dialogue
Victoria Kuketz has been a Director of Corporate Engagement at Catalyst, where she serves as a corporate advisor to large corporations on responsible innovation, the future of work, and building inclusive models for civic and corporate engagement in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Victoria also brings her experience as an established policy and grassroots community leader to her role as Digital Democracy Fellow with the Public Policy Forum, where she leads nationwide initiatives on polarization and civic participation. In this work, she took a systemic approach and engaged 1,600 youth voices across 321 Canadian cities to understand polarization's impact, in addition to eight researchers and writers, five community organizations, two think tanks, and one investigative journalist, all studying, documenting, and reporting on the issue of Canadian polarization. Victoria is now shifting her focus from diagnosing societal divides to building trust and positive community connections and aims to focus on this approach as a Scholar, ultimately creating frameworks for trust-building across the political spectrum, drawing on global perspectives and academic rigor to design scalable solutions for stronger democracies.
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More About the Scholars Program
The Obama Foundation Scholars program gives rising leaders from around the world who are already making a difference in their communities the opportunity to take their work to the next level.
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