Kathy Kemper
Kathy Kemper — known as “Coach” to many — is founder and CEO of the Institute for Education, a nonprofit foundation that recognizes and promotes leadership locally, nationally and in the world community; IFE educates youth for global citizenship.
Called Washington’s “Networker in Chief” by US News and World Report, Coach Kemper also founded INFO, a program of IFE — a roundtable public affairs forum that draws public officials, senior media and business leaders from both sides of the aisle for debate and discussion. INFO speakers have included Supreme Court justices, a vice president, senators, Nobel laureates, Cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, governors and a professional athlete.
A former professional tennis player, Kemper served as head women’s tennis coach at Georgetown University from 1980 to 1990. She coached Georgetown’s No. 1 player to a four-year undefeated match play streak and to the Big East and NCAA National Woman’s Division II title in 1983. Kemper is a sought-after speaker on issues from Title IX and gender equity to an insider’s view of Washington. She has spent 25 years coaching tennis to Washington’s powerbrokers and opinion makers — hitting the courts with Supreme Court justices, members of the United States Congress and United States secretaries of State through four administrations.
Kemper, well-known to Washington’s diplomatic community, has received awards and recognition from the Swedish and Chinese governments, the Women’s Sports Association and other groups for her leadership and philanthropic contributions. She is on the Board of Trustees of Washington International School. She has been awarded numerous Woman of the Year honors from businesses, including Prince Sporting Goods’ Woman of the Year and from the National Association of Women in Business. A frequent op-ed writer, her work has been featured in The Hill, USA Today, Roll Call, The Washington Examiner and Newsday.
Coach Kemper is married, has two daughters, and lives in Rancho Sante Fe, Calif., and Washington, D.C.