Assem Satmukhambetova

Assem Satmukhambetova is IYF’s Country Director in Kazakhstan. She joined IYF in October 2015 bringing more than five years of education consultancy, public policy analysis, and project management experience. Previously, Assem served as the Head of the Internship and Career Center at TVET college APEC Petrotechnic in Atyrau, Kazakhstan, and developed multifaceted employability programs including entry-level job placement to leading oil and gas companies and career services for students aimed at the development of employability skills. Before moving to Atyrau in 2014, Assem was the Director of Department for Secondary Education Development at the main think tank of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Nur-Sultan. During her tenure with the Ministry of Education and Science, she was also the National Coordinator for two OECD reviews of national secondary education policies and policies to improve the effectiveness of resource use in schools in Kazakhstan while working closely with the Ministry’s leadership and other key stakeholders. As a Research Fellow at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Assem worked on several projects and consulted central government including the President’s Administration and the Agency for Civil Service Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In England she worked as an Education Consultant at the International Education Counselling Centre placing young people outside the United Kingdom into short-term training courses and formal education programs in the UK schools and universities.

Assem has a master’s degree in Financial Management from the University of Durham, United Kingdom and a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research (KIMEP), where she also worked as a Research Assistant.