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Chief of Party, USAID Resilient Waters Program Maria Olanda Bata

Maria Olanda Bata is an environment and natural resources, climate change, disaster risk reduction and  food security specialist with more than 18 years of experience in the development sector. She has worked with governmental, academic, and international organizations from Mozambique, southern Africa, and the United States. Maria currently serves as the chief of party for the USAID/Southern Africa Resilient Waters Program based in Pretoria, leading activities to build more resilient and water secure southern African communities and ecosystems.

Prior to joining the Resilient Waters Program in 2020, she was chief of party to two successful, Chemonics-implemented USAID programs in southern Africa: the South Africa Low Emissions Development project and the Coastal City Adaptation project in Mozambique. She also served for over a decade as a country representative and national technical manager for USAID’s Famine Early Warning System Network project where she successfully managed several USAID projects on livelihoods, disaster preparedness, and disaster risk reduction. Through her career, she has worked in partnership with governmental, non-governmental, and academic institutions to support more resilient institutions, structures, and communities across southern Africa.