Kate Simpson
President
Kate, daughter of an American diplomat, lived most of her youth in France where she was born. Fluent in French, Kate settled on a more “exotic” language in college, where she fell in love with Mandarin and all things Chinese. Kate has lived and studied in Australia, Algeria, Ireland and Taiwan. Kate graduated from Yale with a degree in East Asian Studies and pursued a post-graduate fellowship in Chinese Literature at Taiwan National University before settling in Washington, D.C. After stints in public relations and working on the Hill for Senator Harry Reid, Kate began her career at Academic Travel Abroad, Inc (ATA) in 1988 as the China Program Manager and is now a proud owner of the business, along with her partner, Chase Poffenberger. In 2008, Kate completed a three-year executive education program for owners and presidents at Harvard Business School. Kate is a Director on board of NTA (a travel industry association) and serves on the Executive board of the Fund for Education Abroad. (www.fundforeducationabroad.org)
