Natalie Kay, MPP

Natalie is excited to return to her hometown of Memphis for this opportunity after spending 14 years living in Washington, D.C., studying and working in international development. She comes to St. Jude from the National Endowment for Democracy, where she spent a decade managing grants supporting civil society organizations promoting human rights and democratic development in Southern and East Africa. She then transitioned to a manager role in the endowment’s Grantmaking Resource Center, working to coordinate and improve the workflows of multiple grantmaking departments. 

Natalie is passionate about pursuing work that bridges inequality and resource gaps by building the capacity of local actors to tap into regional and global networks of research and expertise. 

Natalie graduated with a bachelor’s in political science from the University of Tennessee and holds a master’s in public policy from the University of Maryland. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, crosswords, hanging out with her two cats, and spending time in nature.