Kate McKee

Founder, Partnership for Economic Inclusion & Independent Advisor

Kate McKee has over 25 years’ experience developing, researching and testing innovations to increase financial access and inclusion. She currently leads CGAP’s research, writing, and policy advisory work on consumer protection in developing countries. She also leads CGAP’s responsible finance agenda, including new work to identify emerging risks for digital finance customers and explore how financial service providers and regulation can address these risks. Kate has worked closely with the Smart Campaign and investors to develop and implement consensus standards for improved protection of microfinance clients. Other CGAP work has focused on savings, youth, behavioral research, and the role of government in financial inclusion. From 1998 to 2006, she directed the Microenterprise Development office at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), leading support to USAID overseas programs that invest over $200 million annually in 70+ countries. From 1986 to 1998, Kate was a senior manager with Self-Help in North Carolina, the largest Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in the United States. She led the start-up of a government fund to invest in CDFIs and provide incentives for mainstream financial institutions to boost community development lending. She also worked for the Ford Foundation in New York and West Africa. She is a development economist, with a master’s degree from Princeton University.