Kim McQuay is managing director of The Asia Foundation’s Program Specialists Group (PSG). Kim leads a unified team of technical specialists in key Foundation program areas, including governance and law, women’s empowerment, economic growth, environment, conflict mitigation, and technology for development. The PSG provides expert advice and technical assistance to country offices in program development, implementation, and fundraising; develops cross-sectoral approaches to address critical challenges in the region; identifies new areas for potential programmatic engagement; and fosters strategic partnerships in the region.
Previously, Kim served as country representative to Thailand, where he managed programs that promote peaceful conflict resolution, greater citizen engagement in political processes and governance reform, more responsive and transparent systems of governance, and Thailand’s emerging role as a non-traditional Asian donor. In addition to his principal focus on Thailand, Kim served as a member of an Asia Foundation working group tasked to guide the Foundation’s return to Myanmar after a gap of five decades. In this capacity, he made regular visits to Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw between January 2012 and June 2013, contributing to the development of programs in governance, international relations, elections, and economic development.
Kim previously served as the Foundation’s Bangkok-based director of law and justice programs (2009-10). In this capacity, he provided technical support to country programs across Asia in the design, implementation, and assessment of program activities that promoted greater citizen access to justice, more efficient judicial and criminal justice administration, improved legal education and community legal service delivery, legal empowerment, and citizen participation in lawmaking.
From 2003 to 2009 Kim served as the Foundation’s country representative to Bangladesh, where his program responsibilities included leadership of a comprehensive national election program, the launch of milestone local economic governance and community policing programs, engagement of religious and secular leaders of influence in national development efforts, and co-leadership of a three-country regional project on Legal Empowerment for Women and Disadvantaged Groups (2007-09) for the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He also conducted a respected country governance assessment for the ADB.
Kim’s additional field experience with the Foundation includes service as project manager of two governance programs in Sri Lanka (1990-92), deputy country representative for Bangladesh (1992-96) and Cambodia (1996-99), and Jakarta-based senior director for Law programs (2001-03). As special assistant to former Asia Foundation president William Fuller (1999-2001), he worked closely with senior executives and the board of trustees on a range of institutional policy issues and coordinated the Foundation’s regional human rights programs.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Kim practiced law with Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Toronto.
Education: Bachelor’s degree and an LL.B. from Queen’s University; LL.M in Public International Law from the University of Cambridge.
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