Felipe Kast
Felipe José Kast Sommerhoff is a Chilean economist, researcher, consultant, and politician who has served as parliamentary and minister in his country.
A graduate in economics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile with a PhD from Harvard University, Kast has been Minister of Planning, presidential candidate in the 2017 primary elections and deputy for the commune of Santiago between 2014 and 2018. He currently serves as senator for the Araucanía Region after being elected to a eight-year term in the 2017 parliamentary elections.
As a right-wing independent, Kast actively participated in President Sebastián Piñera's first government, first as Minister of State and then as Presidential Delegate for emergency camps and villages occupied by 27 February 2010 Earthquake victims.
Kast is a founder and former president of Evópoli, a conservative-liberal and centre-right party. In what was described as a blow to Kast Gloria Hutt was elected president of the party in October 2022 rather than Kast's candidate Luciano Cruz-Coke.
Biography
Family and early life
Kast was born in Santiago on 9 June 1977. He is the son of Michael Kast, who served as Minister of ODEPLAN, Minister of Labor, and President of the Central Bank of Chile during the military regime of General Augusto Pinochet; and Cecilia Sommerhoff.He is the brother of Pablo Kast, former Deputy for the 6th District of the Valparaíso Region ; Tomás Kast, Deputy for the 23rd District of the Araucanía Region ; and Bárbara Kast, councilor of the commune of Paine. He is also the nephew of President José Antonio Kast.
He is the father of three children: Miguel, Emelia, and Pedro.
Professional career
Kast graduated from Colegio Verbo Divino in Santiago in 1995. He studied Commercial Engineering at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. During his studies, he collaborated with the university’s Pastoral Directorate and participated in the “Áncora” project, aimed at providing primary health services in low-income communities.In 1999, he completed an academic exchange at the University of Havana in Cuba, where he studied Economics and Sociology. He returned to Chile in 2000 to complete his degree, later earning a Master’s degree in Economics with a specialization in Public Policy from the same university.
In 2004, he traveled to the United States to pursue a PhD in Public Policy at Harvard University, where he received the “Inequality and Social Policy Multidisciplinary Program” scholarship. During this period, he worked as a social policy consultant for the World Bank and the Center for International Development at Harvard University. He also participated in the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
He later served as a professor at the Institute of Economics of the PUC.
In August 2009, he joined the Libertad y Desarrollo Institute as a researcher and director of the Social Policy Area, where he created the “Public Ideas Center,” dedicated to organizing seminars and working commissions on social issues.
Political career
In 2009, Kast actively participated in the presidential campaign of Sebastián Piñera. Following the earthquake of 27 February 2010, President Piñera appointed him as General Coordinator of the “Levantemos Chile” campaign, responsible for coordinating public policies to address the effects of the disaster.On 11 March 2010, he was appointed Minister of Planning by Piñera, serving until 18 July 2011.
On 4 August 2011, President Piñera appointed him as Presidential Delegate for Emergency Villages and Camps, created in response to the 27 February 2010 earthquake. He resigned from this position at the end of 2012 to dedicate himself to Political Evolution, a political movement he helped found. On 21 March 2015, he was elected president of the party.
On 2 July 2017, he ran as a presidential pre-candidate in the Chile Vamos primary elections, obtaining 218,682 votes, equivalent to 14% of the coalition’s total.
Following the primaries, he ran for the Senate in the 2017 general election, representing Evópoli in the 11th Senatorial District of the Araucanía Region. He won the seat with a plurality of 63,605 votes, equivalent to 18.83% of the valid votes.
From 5 May 2018 until August 2020, he served as Vice President of Evópoli. On 16 January 2021, he announced his decision not to compete in the Chile Vamos presidential primaries.