Katherine Boo is an American investigative journalist renowned for her in-depth reporting on poverty and social injustice. Her work has earned her numerous accolades, including the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2000, a MacArthur Fellowship in 2002, and the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2012. Since 2003, she has been a staff writer at The New Yorker, and her book Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity has received widespread acclaim for its vivid portrayal of life in a Mumbai slum.

Katherine Boo grew up in the Washington, D.C., area after her family relocated from Minnesota due to her father's role as an aide to Representative Eugene McCarthy. She attended the College of William and Mary for two years before transferring to Barnard College, where she graduated summa cum laude. Her early career involved writing and editing positions at Washington City Paper and The Washington Monthly, where she began to focus on issues of social inequality and poverty.

In 1993, Boo joined The Washington Post as an editor and later became an investigative journalist. Her 1999 series exposing neglect and abuse in Washington, D.C.'s group homes for individuals with intellectual disabilities earned the newspaper the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2000. In 2003, she became a staff writer for The New Yorker, contributing articles that delve into the lives of marginalized communities. Her commitment to immersive journalism led her to spend over three years in Mumbai's Annawadi slum, resulting in her 2012 book Behind the Beautiful Forevers, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction.