Karen Mundy

Karen Mundy is Professor at the University of Toronto and a globally recognized leader in education and international development. Between 2014 and 2018 she was the Chief Technical Officer at the Global Partnership for Education, where she directed the Strategy, Policy and Performance team and led the development and implementation of GPE's strategic plan (2015-2020), as well as its gender equality strategy, monitoring and evaluation strategy. At GPE she also managed a portfolio of investments in education research and global public goods and built teams in to support GPE’s work on education policy and quality assurance.

Over her career Karen has moved between academic and applied development activities. Karen has published 5 books and more than 50 articles on educational reform in sub-Saharan Africa and the role of international organizations in achieving education for all, twice winning the prestigious Bereday Award for best article in the Comparative Education Review. She has also supported more than a dozen international development organizations to develop and evaluate their education programs. In 2014/15 Karen was President of the Comparative and International Education Society in 2014-2015. At the University of Toronto Karen has held several administrative positions, including Associate Dean of Research, International and Innovation, Department Chair and Director of the Comparative and International Development Education Centre (CIDE). Karen began her career as a teacher and school librarian in rural Zimbabwe.