Kimberly Hamilton, PhD

About Kimberly Hamilton

Kimberly A. Hamilton, PhD is the president of Island Institute. She previously served as President of FocusMaine, and Chief Impact Officer for Feeding America. Kim also spent eight years with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where she served as Director of Strategy, Planning and Management and in several other senior roles. She led the creation of the first division-wide, global policy and advocacy strategy to advance the foundation’s global goals and deploy $230M in investments. She also developed advocacy and policy efforts to advance the Agricultural Development, Financial Services for the Poor, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, and Family Planning programs.

At the foundation, she oversaw a $50M grantmaking portfolio to strengthen the charitable sector in the United States and elsewhere. Kim previously held positions at Mercy Corps (formerly Netaid), the Migration Policy Institute, the Alcoa and Howard Gilman Foundations, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She has published and spoken on issues related to international migration, global health, and global philanthropy.

Kim received her doctorate in demography from Brown University, a master's degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in International Economics and African Studies, and a bachelor’s degree from the Robert D. Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in French and International Studies. Kim grew up in North Yarmouth and now spends her time between Chebeague Island and Yarmouth with her husband, Barry Fitzsimmons.