Katherine Hay

About Katherine Hay

Katherine Hay is a globally recognized thought leader and strategist in philanthropy and evaluation, with over 20 years of experience, including in low and middle-income countries. Named among the 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy, she has crafted philanthropic strategies that have reshaped practices and impacts across the health, economic, and social sectors.Katherine is currently, Co-Executive Director, Center on Gender Equity and Health, UC San Diego, where she leads the Center’s strategy, partnership, and policy initiatives. She leads teams and initiatives around research and evaluation in gender, health and economic systems. She is also currently advising leaders of select women\'s health and empowerment related strategies at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to this Katherine was the Deputy Director, Gender Equality at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she championed the integration of gender across the Foundation, and supported the formation of a dedicated Gender Division. She developed and implemented the Foundation\'s first Gender Equality strategies around gender data, women’s empowerment, and women’s collectives. Her efforts helped catalyze over $400M in program funding and shaped global gender-focused programming.Katherine also served as Deputy Director, Measurement, Learning, Evaluation, at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, India. In this role Katherine designed and led the MLE function from 2013 to 2017, guiding a $1 billion investment strategy and working across Foundation domain teams. Her leadership informed vital national policies and programs in reproductive, maternal, and child health.Before joining the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, Katherine served as the Senior Regional Evaluation Specialist, at the International Development Research Centre. In over a decade at IDRC, Katherine led the evaluation function across Asia, and globally for the global health program. She developed new evaluation methods and was responsible for corporate evaluations of a $200 million annual portfolio. Katherine is known for her ability to build high-trust, high-performing teams, and for fostering a values-driven work environment. Her deep networks across, and willingness to advise governments, foundations, and multilateral organizations have been instrumental in forming alliances to drive substantial, scalable impacts. Committed to intersectional approaches, Katherine is open, collaborative, and intellectually curious, continuously seeking opportunities to leverage evidence to close equity gaps.

Experience

1. Alumni Network Advisory Board

   Gates Foundation

   Aug 2024 — Present

Education

• University of Waterloo

  Environmental Studies

• Carleton University

  M.A, International Affairs

  1995 — 1998

• University of Waterloo

  Bachelor of Environmental Studies, International Development

  1990 — 1995