Director, BUILD, Ford Foundation
Kathy Reich leads the Ford Foundation’s BUILD initiative in the United States and in the foundation’s 10 global regions. BUILD is a 5-year, $1 billion initiative to strengthen key institutions around the world that fight inequality. Kathy guides Ford’s efforts to support the vitality and effectiveness of institutions and networks that serve as pillars of broader social movements.
Before joining Ford in 2016, Kathy worked for 15 years at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, most recently as organizational effectiveness and philanthropy director, where she led a cross-cutting program to help grantees around the world strengthen their strategy, leadership and impact. Prior to that, she was policy director of a non-profit, served as a legislative assistant on Capitol Hill, and worked for state and local elected officials in California.
Kathy currently chairs the board of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations and is a Senior Fellow of the. Schusterman Foundation. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University, and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. She resides in Brooklyn, NY with her spouse and two teenage children.