Kristen Leadem
Co-Founder

Kristen Leadem, a native of Manchester, Vermont, and co-founder of Clear Path International, has long had a passion for cross-cultural, rights- based international development and humanitarian work.
Kristen has been instrumental in creating new programs and opportunities for CPI since it began in 2000. She initiated and developed CPI’s accident survivor assistance programs in Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Afghanistan and helped pioneer relations for its efforts along the Thai-Burma border. In the early days, she managed the organization's unexploded bomb (UXO) removal projects in Vietnam before CPI discontinued its clearance program.

After earning a Master of Arts degree in International Development and Non-profit Management from the University of Oregon on leave from CPI, Kristen initiated the organization's latest victim assistance initiative in Kabul, Afghanistan. She continues to manage this program together with financial manager Peter Albertsson. She works closely with Afghan non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to strengthen their abilities to sustainably address the long-term and complex needs of people with disabilities, including exploded remnants of war (ERW) survivors.
Kristen's long tenure with CPI began as country representative in Vietnam, a position she held before that with PeaceTrees Vietnam in Quang Tri Province. She later expanded Clear Path’s humanitarian mine action programs to Cambodia before becoming regional director overseeing and managing the programs, staffs and partners in Viet Nam and Cambodia.

Aside from Clear Path, Kristen co-founded and serves as Vice President of SATHI NEPAL, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization working together with children and their families to break the cycle of poverty and social oppression by promoting access to education and health care in Pokhara, Nepal (www.sathiinternational.org).