Kia Guarino is a global policy strategist dedicated to advancing gender equality, public health, and inclusive economic growth. At the Gates Foundation, Kia oversees an investment portfolio on the future of development financing for the gender equality sector, across both public and private spheres to drive systemic change. Her work focuses on mobilizing collective action across governments, multilaterals, and philanthropy to expand women’s economic empowerment and strengthen accountability for gender-responsive policies and financial systems. She also co-leads the Foundation’s work on collective action platforms on caring masculinities, global gender equality moments, gender transformative capital markets, and gender budgeting.
Kia has previously served as Executive Director for a reproductive health advocacy nonprofit, founded a national organization to strengthen CSO operations to sustain activism, and oversaw regional medical programs across the African continent. With more than 15 years of experience spanning global development, advocacy, foreign policy, and communications, Kia has worked across sectors to bridge strategy and storytelling in service of social impact. She brings deep expertise in coalition-building and narrative change, and a passion for connecting diverse changemakers to accelerate progress toward gender equality.
Kia holds two master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University in global economics and policy, and in global public health and has led initiatives on women’s health and leadership, economic inclusion, and social innovation across multiple regions.
