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IAF's New President Named
News Releases - 8/18/2010
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The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Robert N. Kaplan as president and chief executive officer effective November 1, 2010. He replaces Ambassador Larry Palmer, who served from 2005 to 2010 and recently rejoined the U.S. State Department to pursue other diplomatic opportunities.
Kaplan brings to the IAF a lifetime of dedication to Latin American development, beginning with direct experience living in a rural village in Paraguay as a Peace Corps volunteer in the mid-1980s. From 1988 to 1994, Kaplan worked at the World Bank on education and environment projects and sector studies. He was the first head of the Pilot Program to Conserve the Brazilian Rain Forest, a $250 million grant program for Amazon conservation and sustainable development.
He spent the last sixteen years at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). For half of that time he was responsible for all IDB programs in Mexico, Central America, Dominican Republic and Haiti related to agriculture and rural development, potable water and sanitation, environment, natural disaster risk management, and municipal development – a lending portfolio in excess of $2 billion and over $60 million in technical assistance grants. Since 2007, in his role as chief advisor to the executive vice president of the IDB, he was at the center of a major organizational realignment to renew the Bank’s vision, business strategy, and management processes to stay relevant to the region’s needs.
“We are delighted to have Bob join the IAF,” said IAF board chairman John P. Salazar. “We are confident that his leadership skills and strategic thinking will enhance the agency’s efforts to promote grassroots development throughout the Hemisphere, improving the lives of the people we work with and their communities.”
“I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to grassroots development in Latin America and the Caribbean through the IAF,” said Kaplan. “The 40 years since the IAF was established have brought significant changes to communities of the region. They are more connected than ever before and more exposed to global forces, bringing both great opportunities and challenges. The IAF must continue to sharpen its tools and find creative ways to mobilize resources from public and private partners to scale up the impact it has achieved at the community level.”
Kaplan received his undergraduate education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from Princeton University. He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
The Inter-American Foundation, an independent foreign assistance agency of the United States government, furthers grassroots development by awarding grants directly to the organized poor in Latin America and the Caribbean and the groups that support their efforts. Since beginning operations in 1971, the IAF has made nearly 5,000 grants totaling over $650 million. Together, the IAF and its grantees have worked to improve the conditions of hundreds of thousands of families in communities throughout the hemisphere.
For more about the IAF, visit www.iaf.gov.
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For more details, call 703-306-4320 or e-mail jhodges@iaf.gov.
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