About
Katherine Ilkhani is an Iranian-American social entrepreneur and advocate for tobacco harm reduction, climate action and human rights. She is co-founder of Zolv, which is bringing a zero-waste, dissolvable nicotine strip to the U.S. market, pending FDA review. She is a Virginia Tech graduate (BA, Psychology) and fluent in Persian.
Experience
- Co-Founder, Zolv (2024 to present)
- Deputy Executive Director, Climate Cardinals (2019 to present), a youth-led climate nonprofit working in 100+ languages
- Founder and CEO, MercerLake LLC, a Gen Z marketing agency
- Youth Advisory Board, Revolve, and Operations Manager, Phia
- Political Outreach Committee, National Solidarity Group Iran
In the press
- Inc. — Why Founders Court the Inventor of Zyn When They Want to Disrupt a $5 Billion Industry (Nov 2025)
- Inc. Video — The Nicotine Business Is Changing Form (Mar 2026)
- Collegiate Times — Virginia Tech alumni form tobacco harm-reduction company (Dec 2025)
- 2Firsts — How Gen Z Entrepreneurs Are Disrupting the U.S. Nicotine Market with a Thin Strip (May 2025)
- Nicotine Insider — The Strip That Could Reshape Nicotine (May 2025)
- The Georgetowner — Best Friends, Business Partners Tackle Climate Crisis (Aug 2023)
Also mentioned in
- The Impression: Stella McCartney X Phia Host Preview for Collaboration
- Miami Fashion Spotlight: Stella McCartney x Phia co-founders collaboration (Aug 2023)
Speaking
- Invited Panelist, 8th Annual Next Generation Nicotine Delivery USA Conference, Miami (June 3–4, 2026)
- Panelist, New Approaches Summit on Tobacco Control and Harm Reduction, Harvard Club of New York City (Sept 22, 2025)
- Featured Speaker, United Nations Association USA, “AI for SDGs” Series (SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being, Mar 19, 2025)
- Featured Speaker, FDA & NIH Joint Public Meeting: Advancing Smoking Cessation Priorities (Oct 21, 2024)
Research and contributions
- Contributor (subject matter expert, Conversation Circles), AI for SDGs: A Thematic Synthesis Aligning Artificial Intelligence with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for an Equitable Digital Future (Zenodo, Oct 2025, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.17392589)
Photos and video
- Getty Images: Katherine Ilkhani and Sophia Kianni at a 2023 L'Oréal event
- Getty Images: Katherine Ilkhani at Global Citizen Festival 2023
Elsewhere
LinkedIn · Zolv team page · TikTok (35K+ followers) · Instagram