Caroline Connolly joins Kantar Public as head of international development
Kantar Public, the public policy division of research and consulting firm Kantar, has welcomed Caroline Connolly as the leader of its international development practice. She will be based in Washington, DC.
Connolly brings more than two decades of advisory and public sector experience in global health, youth development, energy, and economic growth.
She joins Kantar from Cardno Emerging Markets, a global engineering and social development consulting firm, where she spent three years as VP of program and strategic development and communications. In the role, she designed and delivered global programs across agriculture, energy, health, gender, youth, and technology.
Before that, she spent three years at Deloitte, where she was a program development specialist in the emerging markets practice. Before Deloitte, Connolly was a director at health nonprofit Pathfinder International, where she oversaw program development strategy and a $2.5 million budget for a 1,000-person organization.
Earlier in her career, Connolly spent 11 years in the US Foreign Service, focusing on international development and health with USAID. She holds master’s degrees in public administration and public health from Columbia University, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College.
“Caroline will drive the next stage of growth for our development practice - leading our specialist development practice teams and building on the next wave of evidence-based public policy making with our proprietary data infrastructure whilst deepening our advisory offer for our clients,” said Michelle Harrison, global CEO of Kantar Public.
Kantar’s development practice delivers research, evaluation, and consulting services driven by insights from experience and local teams in Africa, the Middle East, South, and Southeast Asia. The practice has capabilities across the development areas of health, sanitation, agriculture, education, and gender equality, among other areas.
“I am excited to join this team that integrates country-national leadership with client partnerships, modelling global best practice delivered locally,” Connolly said. “With the provision of proprietary data around the world and rich advisory capabilities, I look forward to supporting Kantar Public clients in tackling some of the most critical challenges in global development.”
Based in London, Kantar is one of the world’s leading market research and consulting firms, with more than 30,000 employees across 100 countries. Bain Capital bought a 60% stake in the firm in 2019, with former owner WPP retaining 40% of the company.