Representative Kate Nugent was born in Melrose, Massachusetts, though her family relocated to Yarmouth when she was five. As a high school student, she volunteered on numerous campaigns, and served as an intern for her state representative, and, in college, she worked for the state treasurer. Kate received a BA in International Relations and French from Colgate University and an MA in Renaissance and Medieval Women’s Literature from the University of South Carolina. Kate has worked in education, as a naturalist, and in nonprofits to try to leave the world a safer and healthier place than it was when she found it. After marrying a Vermonter in 2005, the couple promptly went to live in Missoula, Montana, where she worked at an environmental education nonprofit, and an architecture firm. She and her husband returned to Vermont in 2008 which is when she took up her current position as executive director of the Winooski Partnership for Prevention, a nonprofit focused on preventing substance use among youth and young adults. Kate served one year (2022–2023) as president of the South Burlington Rotary Club, and five years as a Justice of the Peace (2018–2023). In her leisure time, she enjoys hiking, spending time in the woods, reading history, government, literature, science, and sharing a meal with friends and family.