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Kate Grant

Kate Grant joined the Foundation as its first chief executive in 2005. She led the expansion of the Foundation from supporting one hospital in one country, Ethiopia, to its current position as the global leader in fistula treatment. Today, under her leadership, the Foundation supports treatment partners in more than 20 countries across Africa and Asia. Grant has formed partnerships with key organizations such as Astellas Pharma EMEA, Johnson & Johnson, Direct Relief, Engender Health, and The Life You Can Save (founded by Peter Singer). During her tenure as CEO, the Foundation has earned 16 consecutive four-star ratings from Charity Navigator, placing it in the top 1% of nonprofit organizations evaluated. It has also consistently earned an “A” rating from Charity Watch, has been named one of the top 50 charities in the United States by Consumer Reports, and has earned more than 700 five-star ratings on GreatNonprofits. Since Grant took charge of the Foundation, it has helped build new women’s hospitals in Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Tanzania, and has increased the number of surgeries that it supports annually by a factor of 20. In recognition of these achievements, Grant in 2014 was named Nonprofit Marketer of the Year by the American Marketing Association and American Marketing Association Foundation.

Before joining the Foundation, Grant served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee staff and as special assistant and deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She also consulted to USAID’s mission in Tanzania, the Rockefeller Foundation, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, and the Women’s Funding Network. Grant holds a master in public affairs degree, with a focus on international development, from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, where she was elected chair of the graduate student body. Previously, she was an advertising executive at two leading agencies—Leo Burnett in Chicago and FCB in San Francisco—and managed campaigns for Fortune 500 companies such as Clorox, Levi Strauss, and McDonald’s. She graduated with honors from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. She also completed the Executive Education Program in Nonprofit Management at Harvard Business School. Grant has served on several boards, including the Governing Board of Graduate Alumni of Princeton University. She regularly gives presentations about the Foundation’s work, and has lectured at Princeton University and Oxford University.