Kathleen Odne

Executive Director, Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation

Kathleen Odne is the Executive Director of the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation in Walnut Creek, California. The Lesher Foundation is a family foundation established in 1989 and provides grants to non-profits in northern California to improve K-12 education, enhance the visual and performing arts and in support of programs benefiting children and families.

Kathleen currently serves on the Board of Directors and the Ethics & Best Practices and Professional Development Committees of the Council on Foundations, as well as the board of the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers. She is a past chair of the Committee on Family Foundations at the Council, which developed the Stewardship Principles for Family Foundations. Kathleen is a founding member of the Funders Forum of Contra Costa, an affinity group of funders in the Bay area, and a member of the Advisory Council for the Foundation Center in San Francisco. She has previously served on the boards of Northern California Grantmakers and the Association of Small Foundations (ASF). She attended the United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing, China as a delegate and continues to be active in her community serving on the boards of both Diablo Regional Arts and the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce.

A native of Chicago, she holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Illinois and an M.A. in Philanthropic Studies from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. She and her husband, John, reside in Walnut Creek, California, and are the parents of three sons.