BIO
Katherine Leal Unmuth is a manager of public affairs and an associate director of Brewer Storefront in the Dallas office of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors.
Ms. Unmuth develops public relations and crisis management strategies to advance the interests of the firm and its clients, including Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs and leading financial organizations. In this capacity, she handles media research and analysis, strategy, social media and media relations on a wide range of matters.
Founded in 1995, Brewer Storefront is the community service affiliate of the firm’s national litigation practice. In the associate director role, Ms. Unmuth helps direct strategy, research, and communications outreach on Section 2 Voting Rights Act cases brought on behalf of voters of color in Texas. She worked in this capacity on successful cases in North Texas that resulted in new election systems in Lewisville Independent School District (2023), Richardson Independent School District (2019), Carrollton Farmers Branch Independent School District (2015), Grand Prairie Independent School District (2015), and Irving Independent School District (2014).
Ms. Unmuth helped direct the Storefront’s advocacy on behalf of the famed Jim’s Shoe Repair in New York City – helping keep the shop open. The firm was recognized for this work with an Award of Merit for Media Relations in the 2015 Dallas Quill Awards, sponsored by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).
She also manages media and community outreach for the Brewer Foundation’s educational programs – the Future Leaders Program (FLP) and the International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) debate competition.
In 2024, she was appointed by Dallas City Council District 2 member Jesse Moreno, with approval by the Dallas City Council, to serve on the City of Dallas Municipal Library Board (MLB). The MLB is an advisory board that promotes library services that meet the needs of Dallas residents and keeps the Library Director informed about community needs. District 2 includes the Central Library in downtown Dallas.
Prior to joining the firm in 2012, Ms. Unmuth worked as an education reporter and writer at The Dallas Morning News for six years. While there, Ms. Unmuth wrote extensively about Latino education issues, immigration, school accountability, and technology use in schools. She also wrote about education trends and research for the Latino Ed Beat blog, an initiative of the national Education Writers Association (EWA).
In 2013, she served as an advisor on the PBS Independent Lens documentary “The Graduates/Los Graduados,” which explored education issues faced by Latino high school students.
Ms. Unmuth has lectured at a wide range of media and education conferences hosted by organizations including the College Board and EWA. In 2010, Ms. Unmuth was selected to participate in two international media symposiums sponsored by the French-American Foundation. In 2009, she won second prize for large media beat reporting in the EWA National Awards for Education Reporting competition for her work at The Dallas Morning News.
Before moving to Dallas, Ms. Unmuth also worked as a higher education reporter for The Wichita Eagle in Kansas. Ms. Unmuth holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.
Ms. Unmuth served as a board member of the Friends of Santa Fe Trail, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and enhancing the Santa Fe Trail, a 4.3 mile multi-use Dallas trail that connects Downtown Dallas to White Rock Lake. She also previously served as a member of the Northwestern University Magazine Editorial Advisory Board from 2003 to 2019.
EDUCATION
B.A. in journalism, Northwestern University, 2003