Donor Profile: Catherine “Kitty” Mulder MIA ’81

Catherine “Kitty” Mulder MIA ’81 was born in Lima, Peru, to a Swiss father and a Greek mother, who arrived in Peru in 1947. Mulder grew up in Peru, attending a British-Peruvian school in Lima and a prep school in Switzerland. She graduated from the University of Geneva with a degree in international relations in 1977. Upon her return to Lima, Mulder spent two years as a photojournalist covering Peruvian tourism and later mining and economics before moving to New York City to attend SIPA in 1980. After graduating from SIPA, she worked in banking and then in the family business, which she and her brothers managed.

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In 2020 Mulder made a generous gift to SIPA establishing the Zinia Leadership Fund to provide financial aid support for SIPA students who have received undergraduate degrees from Peruvian universities, as well as support for SIPA faculty conducting research on Peru and for SIPA programs related to Peru.

The following conversation with SIPA Magazine has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Why did you decide to attend SIPA and pursue a master of international affairs?

I was interested in international business and finance, so the opportunity to take classes at Columbia’s business school while studying at SIPA attracted me, as did the prospect of internships.

SIPA appealed to my pragmatic side. I am not an academician. I like studying and reading, but I also like executing and doing things. My SIPA internship with Marine Midland Bank allowed me to apply the theories I was learning. I recall an incredibly interesting experience during the internship: I was writing a paper on mergers and acquisitions and was allowed to consult historical documents in the bank’s library.

And, of course, the Master of International Affairs program offered everything that goes with Columbia and SIPA: friends, faculty, everything—New York City, Wall Street, the United States. A fantastic, enriching time.

Why was it important to you to include support for need-based financial aid for students from Peru when establishing the Zinia Leadership Fund?

In 2018 the cash-out of one of our businesses was an opportunity to think about what else I wished to do. I had a vision: a strong desire to promote education, particularly in the field of public administration and policy. This would contribute to good public sector decision-making

and institutions in Peru, much like the private sector, which has good companies—small, medium, large—run by Peruvians and foreigners, professionals from leading universities or institutes.

It was satisfying and gratifying for me to help make graduate education a possibility for students and to be able to partner with SIPA in a way that could also benefit Peru.

There are no conditions attached to receiving the scholarship, nothing that requires the student recipients to come back to Peru. So it is open—they take advantage whilst studying at SIPA. Then, if they come back to Peru, well, welcome! If not, hopefully they will do something at some time that is in favor of their country. That is the philosophy behind it.

It is very important to educate and to include ethics, values, and talent development, all that goes with people who try to do better things for our society and our planet. That is my small contribution. As a friend says, “A little sand here, a little sand there—it makes a beach.”

How do you see SIPA’s role in the world today?

Key. SIPA is in New York City, a vibrant city with an unshakeable energy. SIPA contributes to that energy in so many ways, while also benefiting. SIPA offers exposure to a diversity of people and ideas. You have people of different walks, cultures, religions, political opinions coming together to learn and discuss.

A great example of this happening at SIPA is the Institute of Global Politics (IGP). It provides the ideal environment for scholars, faculty, and others to grow, to exchange ideas, to debate. In today’s world, we have a hard time debating. It would seem we would rather choose a side, be polarized, as opposed to finding a common objective and going towards that common objective, which is building, presumably, a free and peaceful society.

I see in IGP’s structure—the faculty involved, the students participating, the speakers and guests invited—a space for exchanges. Perfect. It is a think tank with the possibility, as I said before, to offer and lead to practical solutions. Essentially, it is a forum for leaders, for different opinions, for knowledge, for growth, and for building.