Corina Gardner joined IDPF in 2020, and as CEO, she’s responsible for expanding the Foundation’s work funding partner organizations, who strengthen and advocate for the affordable non-state education sector.

Before IDPF, her career focused on international development, specializing in global health, technology, and gender across Africa, India and the Caucasus. She served as Director of Global Strategy for the Nike Foundation’s Girl Effect, which built youth brands and mobile research tools to empower girls. Here, she guided offices in Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Rwanda, and facilitated strategic partnerships with multinationals and non-profits like Unilever and UNICEF.

Corina brings a wealth of experience from her work on global health within numerous government agencies, including USAID and the U.S. Department of State, where she acted as liaison to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

She’s been a guest lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, Royal Holloway University of London, London School of Economics, and University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School.

With an undergraduate degree from the University of California Berkeley, Corina received her MBA from the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School (class of 2009). She’s based in London, UK.