As interim director of the Nutrition team, Katie Simons leads the foundation’s efforts to ensure that women and children receive the nutrition they need for healthy growth and development.

Katie joined the foundation in 2013 and served as deputy director of Strategy, Planning and Mangement for three teams in Global Development: Family Planning, Global Libraries, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. In this role, she was responsible for developing strategies for empowering the poorest - especially women and girls - to transform their lives and for ensuring more children and young people survive and thrive. She also led the program strategy business teams and oversaw strategic planning, budgeting, portfolio management, and team operations.

Katie has 20+ years of experience leading teams through growth and strategic change. Previously, she was executive director of the Talaris Institute, an operating foundation focused on early childhood development. Katie spent the first half of her career in the private sector, working for the Boston Consulting Group (focused on customer insight and analytics, product development and launch, and business growth) and Starbucks (where she owned the P&L for the coffee business and developed and launched Starbucks #1 selling coffee of all time).

Katie first developed her passion for international development while studying in Zimbabwe during college and was a Fulbright Scholar in Gabon. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.