Born in Colorado and raised in both Colorado and Arkansas, Kristan received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Upon returning from the Peace Corps in late 1984, she completed a Master's degree in Public Health at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a doctoral degree at Brown University. She held senior positions in the United Nations throughout her career, and has worked in a number of UN organisations including UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNDP and WHO. In addition to her time in Mauritania, she has lived and worked in Niger, Pakistan, Ghana, Kenya, Botswana, Viet Nam and Switzerland. She and her husband Michael now live on the West Coast of Scotland.