The Aspen Institute

The spring 2022 Foundation Presidents Roundtable featured Mike Kubzansky, CEO of Omidyar Network, in conversation with Jane Wales, Vice President and Executive Director of the Aspen Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation.

Mike Kubzansky was appointed chief executive officer of Omidyar Network in March 2018 after successfully leading the firm’s Intellectual Capital practice, a function he established when he joined the firm in 2013.

Mike brings nearly 30 years of emerging-markets experience across both the private and public sectors. His deep expertise includes strategy, innovation, impact investing, and businesses focused on the low- and lower-middle income markets in developing economies. Mike is particularly interested in the broad effects of digital technology on our society, and he has led efforts to explore and understand the continuum of its impact, from the promises of increased access to services via mobile phones and digital identity to the threats of trampling on privacy and bypassing those who are not digitally connected.

In his role as head of Intellectual Capital, Mike served as a member of the investment committee, led strategy development, advised on research, published the firm’s learnings, and led incubation and development of new frontier areas for impact for Omidyar Network investment. Two recent explorations include the firm’s new work in digital identity and the future of work.

Before joining Omidyar Network, Mike was a partner at Monitor Group (now Monitor Deloitte), where he spent more than ten years covering a range of sectors including telecom, satellite, and internet services. In 2007, he co-founded and led the Monitor Inclusive Markets practice and published extensively on the team’s ground-breaking research findings. Mike also led many sector-based research and consulting efforts in financial services, healthcare, tech/BPO, energy, livelihoods, and impact investing for a range of corporate, investor, and donor clients. Mike also worked for the World Bank and IFC, and earlier in his career held a variety of roles for a start-up company in the telecoms sector. He currently serves as the chair of the Better than Cash Alliance and as the vice-chair of EMPEA’s impact investing council. Mike also taught a class on emerging-market impact investing at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Mike earned his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University.