Katherine and her husband Rohit moved to Maywood 7 years ago looking for a family-oriented small-town to call home. They were married in their Grant Avenue home and today are the proud parents of two young children.
She is the President of the Maywood Rotary Club, Municipal Chair of the Maywood Democratic County Committee, and a member of both the Recreation Committee and the Maywood Democratic Club. Working alongside her fellow Rotarians, she fed first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic and runs numerous food drives every year. She and Rotary past President Doug Herrick brought back the Maywood 5K, which has raised over $18K for community organizations such as STARTII Animal Shelter and The Food Brigade.
After beginning her professional life in business, Katherine then became a social studies teacher at Glen Rock High School for 15 years. As a member of the Glen Rock Education Association she served as union rep for her colleagues and was part of the negotiations team for two contracts. Today she is the owner of Bennin and Gupta Construction. Katherine holds a B. A. in Political Science from Fairleigh Dickinson University; an M. A. in Public Policy and International Affairs at William Paterson University which included graduate work at Cambridge University, St. Edmunds College, UK; an Educational Supervisor Certification from Montclair University; and is currently working towards her Principal and School Business Administrator Certifications.
During Katherine’s first term on Maywood Council, from 2019-2021, she was liaison to the Board of Health and the DPW and was chosen by her colleagues to be Council President. As a member of the finance committee, she worked to deliver a ZERO % municipal tax increase for two years and a municipal tax REDUCTION in 2020 in order to help residents during the difficult pandemic economy.
While on council and Chair of the personnel committee, she worked with her colleagues to negotiate a fiscally responsible police contract that supports the officers who keep us safe while reducing expensive terminal payouts; instituted a professional development policy for our borough staff; and conducted a long overdue salary review and adjustment to fairly support borough employees. Committed to a greener Maywood, Katherine also worked on several sustainability initiatives including purchasing hybrid police vehicles; upgrading lighting and HVAC systems in municipal buildings; and launching the Trex soft-plastic recycling program which earns the borough free park benches.
Katherine and her family love walking across the street to Memorial Park or uptown to get ice cream on a hot summer day. When she and Rohit get a chance for “date-day,” they continue their quest to find the best ramen in New Jersey. Katherine continues her work to preserve and build on the qualities that make Maywood the best little small town around including our walkable and vibrant downtown and our multi-generational community programming. .