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Staff Directory

Katherine Otts

Email:
kotts@nsf.gov
Phone:
(703) 292-7552
Fax:
(703) 292-9190
Room:
E 5314
Organization:
DAS

Biography:

Katherine Otts currently serves as NSF's Section 508 Compliance Officer and formerly served as Acting Section Chief, Technology and Operations Section and Unified Communications (UC) Manager providing training, technology demonstrations, technical assistance, and accessibility guidance to help early adopters transition smoothly to using new communications tools and to eliminate barriers to information and communication technology (ICT) for individuals with disabilities.  Katherine's professional experience spans more than 32 years serving in roles as Project Director, Section 508 Coordinator, Virtual Technology Manager, Section Head, Senior Conference Manager, and Assistant Director for Conference Technologies International.  Katherine managed NSF's Meetings and Events Management (MEM) Office for 12.5 years helping customers to convene face-to-face at more than 10,000 onsite events/year and was highly instrumental in training MEM staff and AV contractors to produce virtual events.  She has been a passionate advocate and enthusiastic promoter of the use of unified and assistive technologies to help broaden meeting participation and communications.  Katherine is noted for leading EDU/DGE's Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) 100% virtual panels in 2014 - 2024 and MPS' Sustainable Energy Pathways (SEP) 100% virtual panels in 2012 to successful outcomes realizing more than $7.5 million in cost savings, for managing NSF's Videoconferencing Infrastructure and Technology Upgrade Project in 2009, for sufficiently training and migrating NSF staff to the Zoom virtual meeting platform days before the federal government was required to shift to 100% telework due to the COVID19 pandemic, and for expanding the use of unified communications technology for 100% virtual panels to over 30%.  She is a certified Government Virtual Event Producer, holds a B.A. degree in Psychology from the American University, and is a graduate of American University's Key Executive Leadership Program.  Katherine's professional interests are Section 508 accessibility, UC technology training, photography, and employee and team productivity.