Katherine Zavala

Director of Organizational Effectiveness
Thousand Currents

A native of Peru, Katherine Zavala leads Thousand Currents’ programs in Latin America and has played a leading role in amplifying innovative local models and solutions in women’s rights, food sovereignty, and economic justice to key philanthropic audiences in U.S. and Europe, including millennials and diaspora groups. She is an experienced alliance-builder, connecting organizations to share analysis, take joint action, and advance multiple pathways for social justice.

Katherine has worked alongside AFEDES, an indigenous women-led organization in Guatemala (and a Thousand Currents partner), for 5 months to support their economic empowerment program; and spent six weeks learning from the Movement of People Affected by Dams, a national social movement in Brazil. She has also written numerous articles and blogs that champion indigenous cosmovision and activism, and highlight how indigenous women’s leadership and resilience is at the heart of dignified livelihoods and a sustainable ecosystem. Katherine was the co-chair for the Latin American Funders Working Group from 2010 to 2015, hosted at the International Human Rights Funders Group. Katherine earned a Master’s in International Relations from San Francisco State University and a Bachelor’s in Hospitality Management from Florida International University.