Felipe Kast Sommerhoff, the current Minister of Planning of the Government of President Sebastián Piñera Echenique, graduated as Commercial Engineer, with a minor in Economics from the Catholic University of Chile and completed the Master in Economics with a major public policy at the same university. He studied economics and sociology at the University of Havana, Cuba. He subsequently earned his Ph.D. in Public Policy at Harvard University, USA.

His interest has always been focused on the design and implementation of public policies to overcome poverty. His academic work was recognized through several grants, most notably that of the Multidisciplinary Inequality and Social Policy Program at Harvard University.

He has taught at the Institute of Economics at the Catholic University of Chile, was director of the Social Program of the Instituto Libertad y Desarrollo (LYD), a consultant on social policy for World Bank and at the Center for International Development at Harvard University, and has authored several academic publications.

Additionally, he is a member of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), developed jointly by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Catholic University of Chile, among other universities.

He is 33 years old, married and father of three children.