Kalpana Kochhar: Indian Economist To Work At Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation

Kalpana Kochhar career: Indian economist Kalpana Kochhar, who heads the Human Resources Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is retiring on July 30.

She served with the organisation for over three decades. Post her retirement, Kochhar will be joining the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as Director of Development Policy and Finance. To date, the economist has served in various senior positions. Read ahead to know more about her career as an economist and beyond it.

Kalpana Kochhar Career as an Economist at the IMF

Kalpana Kochhar joined IMF's Economist Program in 1988, assigned to the Asia and Pacific Department (APD). She worked on various country assignments in APD for six years before moving to the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department.

In 1997, she returned to APD and was promoted to the post of Assistant Director in 2003. Over the years, she built her skills in the regional matters of Asia with desk economist positions in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. She led work on Korea and Malaysia during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s.

The managing director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva believes that Kochhar provided a shining example of strong leadership and dedication to the Fund's mission in the 33 years of her career. "She brought a keen intellect and remarkable passion to her work and always focussed her efforts on helping those we serve," she said. She added that her work helped to shape the fund.

Throughout her career, Kochhar pioneered change in the institution, especially on gender and emerging market issues while exhibiting a positive and caring management style all the time.

Director of Human Resources

As Director of Human Resources, Kalpana Kochhar oversaw the HR policies of the IMF. She was also responsible for looking after the recruitment and retention of more than 4,000 IMF employees from about 150 countries based in Washington, DC, and in overseas offices. In the last 5 years, she led the successful review and modernisation of the IMF's compensation and benefits programme, and also the successful implementation of a large and complex human capital management IT system. This helped in simplifying, streamlining and modernising HR at the fund.

Research in gender equity and more

Kalpana Kochhar led the research and policy formulation on gender equity, income inequality, structural reforms and jobs and growth as Deputy Director in the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department (SPR). She also oversaw a comprehensive review of the IMF's surveillance police and practices which aimed at enhancing engagement with the member countries.

Role in the Research department and the World Bank

Prior to holding these roles, Kalpana Kochhar was the Assistant Director and Senior Personnel Manager in the Research Department. In between her fund positions, she was seconded to the World Bank on a 2-year-stint as Chief Economist for the South Asia Region. There, she lent her vast knowledge and experience in Asia to the Bank's work in the region. She also pioneered work on trade and financial integration in South Asia there. Moreover, Khachhar established a high-level advisory group of economists and foreign policy specialists from the region to assist the Bank in these areas.

Additional roles

Before joining the fund, Kalpana Kochhar was an Assistant Professor at George Washington University in Washington, DC. She is also an accomplished author. Her works regarding Asia, gender and various other development issues have appeared in several IMF working papers, Staff Discussion Notes, books, blogs and publications including Finance and Development magazine.