Kimberly Otis
Director of the Center for Partnership Studies' Real Wealth Public Policy Initiative
Kimberly Otis has spoken at many conferences and events, and has been a leader in the movement for a more equitable partnership society, focusing on the importance of gender equity.
Otis has held leadership positions with private foundations, non-profits, associations, and philanthropic organizations for over twenty years. She was Executive Director of the National Council of Women’s Organizations, an advocacy coalition representing 230 member organizations. Previously, Otis was President & CEO of Women & Philanthropy, a membership and advocacy organization. She is a past Executive Director of the Rauch Foundation, a family foundation based in New York.
From 1991 to 2000, Otis was the founding Executive Director of The Sister Fund, formerly The Hunt Alternatives Fund, a private family foundation devoted to the empowerment of women and girls. Otis held former positions in fundraising, research, and management with several social justice organizations, including Nontraditional Employment for Women, the Center for War, Peace, and the News Media at New York University, and the Public Agenda Foundation.
She has published chapters in two books: Women, Philanthropy, and Social Change (Tufts University Press, 2005) and The Transformative Power of Women's Philanthropy (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2006). She has authored other reports and articles, and has given presentations at many conferences, universities, and the National Press Club.
Otis holds a master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with honors and distinction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Otis also was awarded a certificate in Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management from the Graduate School of Business Administration at Harvard University, as well as other certificates from the Graduate Institute of International Studies of the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Otis attended the United Nations' IV World Conference on Women in Beijing, China in 1995, where she organized several workshops. In recent years, she has traveled to Brazil and India, as well as all over the United States.
