Peter Laugharn serves as president and chief executive officer of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Photo Courtesy
As the 9th East Africa Philanthropy Conference opens its doors in Kigali, Rwanda, from June 11–13, 2025, one of its most anticipated keynote speakers is Peter Laugharn, President and CEO of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
His decades-long leadership in education, global health, and grassroots development reflects a deep commitment to philanthropy that endures beyond headlines and humanitarian flashpoints.
A Career Rooted in Community Development
Peter Laugharn’s professional journey began shortly after earning his Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University in 1982. Inspired by a course on the history of education, he joined the Peace Corps and served in Morocco from 1982 to 1984. That experience shaped his passion for localized, community-driven development.
From 1985, Laugharn spent the next 11 years with Save the Children.
His work took him to Bamako, Mali, where he lived and worked for eight years, playing a central role in the development of the Village Schools model—an initiative that empowered local communities to expand access to primary education.
He later held regional leadership roles, including Field Office Director in Mali and West Africa Area Director, overseeing programs across 10 countries.
In 1999, Laugharn joined the Bernard van Leer Foundation in The Hague as Director of Programme Development and Management. By 2002, he had risen to the role of Executive Director, overseeing global initiatives focused on early childhood development. He led the foundation until 2008.
Leadership in Child-Centered Philanthropy
Laugharn also served as Executive Director of the Firelight Foundation, based in Santa Cruz, California. There, he supported community-based organizations in Africa working on education, health, and resilience for children affected by poverty and HIV/AIDS.
He became President and CEO of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in 2016. In this role, he has expanded the foundation’s commitment to supporting vulnerable populations worldwide. Laugharn has emphasized dignified development, local leadership, and long-term systems-building—principles that have become increasingly relevant in times of compounding global crises.
Reframing What Philanthropy Should Fund
At the Kigali conference, Laugharn is expected to explore the question: what does it mean to finance the future with integrity? His approach rejects the short-termism often found in global philanthropy. Instead, he champions patient capital, dignified partnerships, and a belief in institutions as infrastructure.
Under his leadership, the Hilton Foundation has continued to support long-term initiatives in sectors such as early childhood development, safe water access, homelessness reduction, and Catholic sisters’ leadership.
His keynote will likely reflect themes he has long promoted: pooled capital for the public good, humility in complexity, and faith in proximate leadership.
Collaborative Thought Leadership
Peter Laugharn has co-founded the International Education Funders Group and the Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS. He currently sits on the boards of the Council on Foundations and the Pacific Council on International Policy.
His commitment to learning from the field, rather than prescribing top-down solutions, has made him a trusted voice in reimagining aid and development.
His prior speeches and writings emphasize not just what philanthropy funds, but how it engages, with respect, with accountability, and with an ear tuned to community knowledge.
A Timely Voice in a Changing World
As the global philanthropic community reckons with questions of power, sustainability, and decolonization, Peter Laugharn’s presence at the 2025 East Africa Philanthropy Conference serves as both anchor and compass.
His career reflects the kind of philanthropy that stays long after the cameras are gone. It builds deeper, listens longer, and chooses what will endure over what merely appears urgent.
In Kigali, he will help set the tone for a gathering that aims to shift paradigms—away from fragmentation and towards cohesion, away from charity and towards justice. His message will challenge participants to reflect not just on where the money goes, but on who decides, who leads, and what legacy they leave behind.
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