Kate Lapham

Kate Lapham has worked on education programs in the former Soviet Union since 1997. During her tenure with the Open Society Foundations, she has worked with both the Education Support Program and Early Childhood Program to support national Open Society Foundations and partner NGOs in developing high quality programs with a particular focus on disadvantaged children including children with disabilities, minority and minority language children, and rural populations with limited access to ECD services.

She joined Open Society to manage its contribution to the USAID-funded PEAKS Project in Central Asia.  Since that project closed in 2007, she has coordinated programs and giving for ESP in Central Asia and the Caucasus and for ECP in several countries in the CEE/CIS region.  She also represents the Open Society Foundations in the IASC Global Cluster for Education in Emergencies. 

Prior to joining the Foundations, Lapham worked for IREX as director of the Community Connections Program—an exchange for mid-career professionals in education, business and public service reaching 600-800 people per year in the Russian Federation.  She also helped IREX establish field representatives in 11 regions of Russia and provided management support to offices in Irkutsk and Vladivostok.  She holds a bachelor of science in foreign service (cum laude) from Georgetown University and a master's in public administration from Columbia University.