Bio

As an Orange resident for over 40 years, Kathy Tavoularis is a product of the Orange Unified School District, having attended Taft Elementary, Peralta Junior High, and Villa Park High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the California State University at Long Beach.

As a child of Greek immigrants, Kathy began volunteering at the Orange International Street Fair from a young age, with St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church. Later she volunteered and organized booths to register voters at the Street Fair. Being active in the community taught Kathy the importance of small-town community civic leadership.

After spending over a decade as an advisor to government leaders in southern California, Kathy founded her own public affairs consulting firm, based in the City of Orange in 2007. She has managed multi-million-dollar projects, overseeing hundreds of staff on behalf of a wide breadth of non-profit and private sector clients.

She was a nominee for the Orange County Business Journal’s “Women in Business” Award, and honored as “Woman of the Year,” by the California State Senate. Kathy has appeared in Human Events, the Orange County Register, and on CNN.

In April 2021, Kathy was appointed to fill a vacant city council seat to the represent the Orange City Council’s Third District. She is the first Greek-American to serve on the Orange City Council. She is a champion of public safety and will work to combat homelessness, unburden Orange families and businesses from excessive taxation, and be a voice in overseeing the future of the Village at Orange Mall.

Being a daughter of immigrant small business owners and an immigrant herself, Kathy has always been proud to be an adopted American and what this country has meant to her family’s quality of life. Her older brother, Peter Tavoularis, who unexpectedly passed away recently, was a teacher and coach at Orange High School for eighteen years, where his students affectionately knew him as “Coach T”. Her sister is an attorney for the County of Orange.

In addition to serving the City of Orange, Kathy is a member of the Orange Elderly Services / Orange Senior Center- Board of Directors, Orange County Public Affairs Association, Orange Community Foundation, Old Towne Preservation Society, Orange Women’s Club and has served on the boards of the American Hellenic Council, California Women’s Leadership Association, the Orange County Forum, Clean Tech Orange County, the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, and Orange Republican Women Federated. She is also an alternate member for Orange City/Schools Committee, and Foothill Eastern TCA Board of Directors