Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation
Indian economist Kalpana Kochhar, Head-HR, IMF (International Monetary Fund) will retire next month after serving for over three decades with the organization to join the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
She has been with the IMF for three decades, will retire on July 30, and will join as Director of Development Policy and Finance, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
“In her 33 years at IMF, Kalpana provided a shining example of strong leadership and dedication to the Fund’s mission. She brought a keen intellect and remarkable passion to her work and always focused her efforts on helping those we serve. Her work helped to shape the Fund and, while we wish her the very best in her new role, she will be sorely missed,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement.
“As Director-HR, Kalpana oversaw the IMF’s HR policies and the recruitment and retention of more than 4,000 IMF employees from nearly 150 countries based in Washington, DC, and in overseas offices,” Georgieva said.
Kochhar started at the IMF as an Economist in 1988. Over the years, she built on her expertise in Asian regional matters with desk economist positions in Sri Lanka and the Philippines, and by leading work on Korea and Malaysia during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s.
Prior to joining the Fund, she was an Assistant Professor at George Washington University in Washington DC.
Kochhar is also an accomplished author, and her research on Asia, gender, and a variety of development issues has appeared in numerous IMF working papers, Staff Discussion Notes, books, blogs, and publications including the widely circulated Finance and Development magazine, IMF said in a media release.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill and Melinda Gates.
In India, it works in collaboration with the Indian government and other partners on various issues, from health care and sanitation to gender equality, agricultural development, and financial empowerment of the most vulnerable populations.
