Kathleen Odne, M.A.

Title: Instructor

Program: The Grantmaking School

Bio

Kathleen Odne is the Executive Director of the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation in Walnut Creek, California. The Lesher Foundation is a family foundation established in 1989 and provides grants to non-profits in northern California to improve K-12 education, enhance the visual and performing arts and in support of programs benefiting children and families.

Kathleen currently serves on the Board of the National Center for Family Philanthropy and on the Board and Governance Committee of the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers. Kathleen is a founding member of the Funders Forum of Contra Costa, an affinity group of funders in the East Bay, and a member of the Advisory Council for the Foundation Center in San Francisco. She has previously served on the boards of the Council on Foundations, the Association of Small Foundations and Northern California Grantmakers. She is a past chair of the Committee on Family Philanthropy at the Council which developed the Stewardship Principles for Family Foundations.

In her community, she has served on the board of De La Salle High School and Diablo Regional Arts Association and is currently serving on the John Muir Physician Network and the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce board. She attended the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing, China, in 1995 as a delegate. A native of Chicago, she holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Illinois and an M.A. in Philanthropic Studies from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. She and her husband are residents of Walnut Creek and the parents of three sons.