Born and raised in Vancouver and trained as a Registered Nurse, Catherine's first experience with international education came when she was asked to join the first Canadian delegation to visit China since the Cultural Revolution in the 1970's. Following an MBA at UBC, Catherine joined the Faculty of Commerce (now the Sauder School of Business) where she founded UBC's first international exchange program with Denmark's Interantional Study Program. Since that time Catherine has established hundreds of partnerships with universities and colleges around the globe in her role at UBC as well as at Capilano College, and has sent countless students off to the experience of their lives.