Katie oversees a portfolio of projects and team operations at the MIC@M. In addition, she manages and consults on client projects with a focus on market research projects, as well as projects related to climate change and agriculture.
With the MicroInsurance Centre at Milliman, Katie has managed and implemented dozens of microinsurance consulting projects in emerging markets, including:
Supply-side research and case studies. She managed two major regional microinsurance landscape studies in Africa and Latin America and supported seven others, with a focus on improving the availability and analysis of key performance indicators for microinsurance.
Demand and market research with low-income segments. She has experience with client-centric qualitative, and quantitative research methods, and has supported or led studies in Philippines, Malaysia, China, Tajikistan, Georgia, Lebanon, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
Product prototyping, design, and implementation of microinsurance products, including life, health, and agriculture/property covers, with a focus on human-centered design (HCD) methods. She has worked on products in Belize, Egypt, Ethiopia, Tajikistan, and Georgia.
Supporting the development of microinsurance strategies or road maps for insurers, development organizations, or government actors, in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zambia, Philippines, Egypt, Colombia, and Jamaica.
Prior to joining the MicroInsurance Centre, Katie spent five years working and studying in the field of international development with a focus on microfinance, primarily in Nepal and Moldova.
Professional Designations
Associate – Life Management Institute (LOMA)
Education
MS, Development Management, American University, Washington DC, USA
BS, Business Administration (Finance and International Business), University of Minnesota, USA
Affiliations
Member – InsuResilience Gender Working Group (2020-present)
Member – Performance Working Group of the Microinsurance Network (2013-2015)
The MicroInsurance Centre at Milliman collaborated with five different programs to develop case studies about their journeys to building a viable climate risk insurance solution.
19 September 2022 - by Katie Biese, Mariah Mateo Sarpong
A key challenge to the development of successful livestock insurance in emerging markets is often a lack of data on the risks. As a result, livestock insurance is very often either unavailable or unaffordable for smallholder farmers.
Low-income people face various challenges in accessing financial products and, in overcoming these challenges, a growing number of innovations and technologies have emerged in the arena of microinsurance.
31 December 2018 - by Katie Biese, Michael McCord, Mariah Mateo Sarpong
This report is based on results from a detailed Supply-side Landscape study of insurers in which every insurance company in Nigeria was contacted, including a qualitative survey.
10 August 2017 - by Solveig Wanczeck, Michael McCord, Martina Wiedmaier-Pfister, Katie Biese
This paper provides an overview of the contribution of insurance to specific Sustainable Development Goals and their targets, using all 17 SDGs as the basis of the assessment.
