MARIA MCCULLEY
Chief Public Development and Strategic Resources Officer
Maria is the Chief Public Development and Strategic Resources Officer at Food for the Hungry (FH).
She first began working at FH in Bolivia while finishing college. After spending five years in the US in the corporate world, Maria returned to Bolivia where she assumed the role of Deputy Director of FH Bolivia, leading the areas of Ministry Support Services (finance, administration, IT), Human Resources and USG grants and commodities acquisition and management, including monetization. Maria returned to the US where she transitioned to launch and lead the area of US government grants and commodities. She led many trainings in Africa and Latin America. Maria was a key stakeholder in the development of the first Monetization Guidance for INGOs. She contributed in many forums organized by the US Department of Agriculture as well as Inside NGO. Maria was a key leader in the development and negotiation of several multimillion USG grant proposals and an expert in USG rules and regulations. She also led the strategy and negotiations of NICRA for FHUS with USAID’s Office of Acquisition and Assistance. Maria firmly believes in being agile and the importance of learning and adapting in the work we do. Maria is the sponsor of the GEDI (Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) council, as she fervently believes that every person is beautifully and wonderfully made and needs to be treated with dignity and respect. She is a member and mentor of WILD (Women in Leadership Development) at her church and provides training / counsel in financial stewardship at various Spanish speaking churches as time permits. Maria graduated from Universidad Mayor de San Andres in La Paz, Bolivia, where she studied accounting, economics, and finance. Maria was born and raised in Bolivia, but now lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband Jim and their two children.