B. Keith Cole

Keith Cole has over 23 years of experience working in international development and humanitarian response. He currently is Leader for Humanitarian and Multilateral Business at SATO, part of LIXIL, an award-winning water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)-focused social business that has positively impacted the lives of almost 100 million people across 46 countries. In this role, he works with international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and United Nations agencies to provide WASH solutions for vulnerable populations including refugee and internally displaced persons camps, medical facilities, schools, and other humanitarian settings. He also serves as SATO’s representative to the UNICEF-led Global WASH Cluster of the United Nations Inter-Agency Standing Committee.

Before joining SATO, he spent more than two decades at Texas A&M University’s Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture and Development, rising through multiple positions to become Associate Director for Program Development. While at Borlaug he successfully wrote or supervised cost proposals exceeding $85M in awards whether as the lead organization or as a subawardee that improved the agricultural livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in more than 50 countries. He also served as Texas A&M AgriLife’s Liaison to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

His PhD research is identifying critical skills international NGOs are seeking in new hires with subsequent curriculum to be developed later.  He is a frequent speaker to Texas A&M classes on a variety of topics in international development, proposal writing, and international project management.