Kate Cochran

Kate is a fierce believer that global poverty is not inevitable and that market forces and individual resolve are some of the sharpest tools available to us in that fight.

For the past several years, she has held leadership positions in international development organizations providing financial services and access to higher education to millions of the world’s poorest citizens. She served as Chief Operating Officer for Vittana, directing strategy for stimulating student loan markets in developing countries and later served as a consultant and board member disseminating the learnings from that organization.

Prior to Vittana, she held a range of executive roles at Unitus, a microfinance accelerator. She is a founding Board member of Upaya Social Ventures and served as its Chair and Treasurer prior to joining the staff.

In addition, Kate has consulted independently with a range of nonprofit organizations and social businesses. She is a frequent speaker on social entrepreneurship and the intersection of markets and mission at business schools and conferences.

Kate holds a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA Anderson.