Kathryn "Katie" Meade (born 18 May 1983) is an American model, widely considered to be "the first model with Down syndrome to become the face of a beauty campaign." Meade was born in Des Moines, Iowa in a family of three female children to Tom and Becky Meade. She experienced many health problems ever since early childhood, being diagnosed with Down syndrome and having undergone two open heart surgeries. Meade attended mainstream classes at Herbert Hoover High School, where she reports having been bullied by other students due to her condition. While in high school, she joined Best Buddies International. It was while working as an ambassador for the organization that she was approached by Beauty and Pin-Ups to become the face of their 2016 "Fearless" range, thus becoming the first model wi