Kate Donaldson

Kate Donaldson is a leader in our Logistics and Transportation practice and a member of our Advanced Manufacturing and Services practices. She currently leads our maritime logistics and infrastructure efforts in EMEA.

With over 30 years of experience, Kate advises clients on performance improvement, EBITDA acceleration, and commercial transformation. She brings deep maritime expertise, including work across shipping management, shipping operations, terminals (bulk, break bulk, container, and Ro-Ro), marine services, and ferries. Her work spans strategy, capital deployment, operations improvement, and commercial transformation. In addition to maritime logistics, she has led engagements in airline ground handling and freight forwarding.

Kate has driven successful transformation programs across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia. She supports clients from opportunity identification through to hands-on implementation, offering a pragmatic perspective shaped by multiple interim roles throughout her career.

Before joining Bain, Kate was a partner at a leading global consultancy focused on transformation. Earlier in her career, she served as an operating partner at a private equity firm and held commercial roles in the consumer products sector at General Mills, PepsiCo, and Bristol Myers Squibb.

Kate holds a bachelor’s degree from the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. She lives in London with a household full of pets and enjoys playing the flute in her spare time.