Dr. Kimberlyn Leary is the Emma Bloomberg Lecturer in Public Policy and Management at the Harvard Kennedy School and has served as the Executive Vice President at the Urban Institute and is a Senior Advisor at New America. She was a consulting advisor to the Gates Foundation and previously served as an advisor to the National Math and Science Initiative. She is also faculty affiliate at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, as well as at the Center for Public Leadership the Women and Public Policy Program and the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School.
Dr. Leary also holds academic appointments as an associate professor at Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and has held two roles in federal service: in the Obama White House as an advisor to the Council on Women and Girls, as a senior advisor to the Biden White House Domestic Policy Council, and as a fellow in the Office of Management and Budget.
Dr. Leary holds an AB in Psychology from Amherst College, a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan, and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University. She also trained as a psychoanalyst at the Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute.
She has held fellowships from the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In April of 2024, she was a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center resident.
Dr. Leary is also a member of the Board of Trustees at the Emma Willard School and the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. She currently serves as a Governor of the Folger Shakespeare Library and a Community Advisory Board Member at TD Bank.
Academic Journal/Scholarly Articles
HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series
Research Papers/Reports
Sponsored projects include research, training, convening, and other initiatives externally funded through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Funding sources can include the US federal government, state and local agencies, private foundations, corporations, and foreign entities (public and private).
The below list includes all sponsored projects in progress or completed within the current and past 2 calendar years, administered at the Harvard Kennedy School under the direction of the named faculty member as Principal Investigator. Please note that this list includes only those activities supported by external sponsored funding; other sources of support are not included (e.g., philanthropy, HKS or Harvard internal resources).
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Sponsor Name
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Harvard Kennedy School is proud of its energetic involvement in the world. To better understand how to solve public problems by improving policy and leadership, we engage directly with policymakers, public leaders, governments, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit businesses whose activities affect those problems. However, we recognize that such engagement can raise questions about perceived and potential conflicts of interest, so we disclose publicly the key professional activities of our faculty outside the Kennedy School. The activities disclosed below are for the most recent reporting period, as defined by University policy. Some may be paid, some may be unpaid, and others may be in exchange for expense reimbursement only.
Outside Professional Activities For Kimberlyn Leary
| Organization | Relationship |
|---|---|
| Emma Willard School | Fiduciary board membership |
| Folger Library | Fiduciary board membership |
| Johns Hopkins University | Consulting |
| Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls | Fiduciary board membership |
| TD Bank Community Advisory Board | Membership on a scientific or other advisory board |