Cathryn Hilliard is currently a member and past president of the Southern Marin Fire Protection
District’s (SMFD) Board of Directors and is their representative on the Boards of the Marin Wildfire Protection Authority (MWPA) and the Marin Emergency Radio Authority (MERA). She is the former Executive Director of a public works construction compliance organization called CIFAC. Before that, Ms. Hilliard was the Director of Government and Public Affairs of the Association of Bay Area Governments and was part of the development of the first regional land use, air quality, water quality, open space, and solid waste disposal plans for the San Francisco Bay Area. She served as one of the leads on the opening of the San Francisco Bay Trail and the San Francisco Estuary Project.

Hilliard also worked as a staff member in both houses of Congress. As a consultant, she set up a one-stop location filming permit center in Hollywood to help California retain the filming and post-production industries. Educated at UCLA, she received her B.S. in political science from CSUEB and a certificate for Women in Management from UCB. Ms. Hilliard has been a guest lecturer on regional governance and public contract law. In 2019 and 2022, she was recognized by Marquis Who’s Who in America and was given a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Her community work also includes being the current President of the Marin Women’s Political Action Committee and the former president of the UCSF/Mount Zion Hospital Auxiliary, the American Society for Public Affairs, and, following Nancy Pelosi, she served as President of the Bay Area Public Affairs Council. In addition to supporting the work of Firefighters, Cathryn” 's passion is equity and equality for women. She also loves to paint and plays guitar.