Guide to Specialists

Kathleen Kuehnast
Associate Vice President of the Grant Program

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Phone: (202) 429-4714

E-mail: kkuehnast@usip.org

Kathleen Kuehnast is associate vice president of the Grant program. She joined USIP in 2008 following a fifteen-year career in international development, where she worked extensively with the World Bank managing international research projects and advising policymakers (government and non-government) on social development concerns. She has also worked in a similar capacity with the Asian Development Bank, the German Technical Cooperation Agency, and the United Nations Development Project. Her ongoing work continues to be focused on the increasing socio-economic disparities in Central Asia and the impact on local level conflicts.

As a recipient of both the Mellon Foreign Fellowship at the Library of Congress (2000) and the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies Fellowship (1999) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, she has studied and written extensively on the impact of post-soviet transition on Muslim women of Central Asia.

She has been an advisor to the U.S. Department of State on matters concerning Central Asia, including diplomatic briefings for the secretary of state and a number of ambassadors. In addition, she has given in-depth briefings on Central Asia at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute; Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; U.S. Agency on International Development; Georgetown University; Middle East Institute; National Defense University; and Columbia University.

Kuehnast holds a Ph.D. in socio-cultural anthropology from the University of Minnesota, with an area specialty in Central Asia. Her master’s degree is from the University of St. Thomas in education. She is a member of the American Association of Anthropology (AAA).

Publications:

• Post-Soviet Women Encountering Change: Nation Building, Economic Survival, and Civic Activism, co-edited with C. Nechemias (Johns Hopkins Press and Woodrow Wilson Press 2004).
• Better a Hundred Friends than a Hundred Rubles? Social Networks in Transition –The Kyrgyz Republic, co-author with N. Dudwick (The World Bank, 2004).
• "Does the future for Central Asian Women lie in the Past? An Overview of Current Gender Trends in the Region," in Middle Eastern Women on the Move. Edited by A. Bertone and H. Esfiandiari (Woodrow Wilson International Center Press, 2003).
• "Poverty Shock: The Impact of Rapid Economic Change on the Women of the Kyrgyz Republic," in When Things Fall Apart: The Study of Poverty in the Former Soviet Union, 1993–1999. Edited by N. Dudwick, E. Gomart, A. Marc, and K. Kuehnast (The World Bank, 2002).
• "Building Cooperation in Post-Conflict Areas: Rwanda Community Reintegration and Development Project" Social Development Notes, No. 59 (The World Bank, 2001).
• A Generation at Risk: Children in the Central Asia Republics of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, co-author with A. Bauer, N. Boschmann, and D. Green (The Asian Development Bank, 1998).
• Women and Gender Relations: The Kyrgyz Republic in Transition, co-author with A. Bauer and D. Green (The Asian Development Bank, 1997).
• Analyzing Social Capital in Context: A Guide to Using Qualitative Methods and Data, co-author with N. Dudwick, V. Nyhan Jones, and M. Woolcock (The World Bank, 2006).
• Community Driven Development in the Context of Conflict-Affected Countries: Challenges and Opportunities, co-author with N. Ahmed, J. De Berry and D. Owen (The World Bank, 2006).
• "Coming of Age in Post-Soviet Central Asia: Dilemmas and Challenges Facing Youth and Children," Demokratizatsiya (Vol. 8, 2000).