Maura Barry serves as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator in USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, which leads the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative. In this role, she oversees the strategic direction and implementation of Feed the Future programs in the field and the bureau’s efforts to engage and build partnerships with the private sector and research community. Prior to joining BFS, she served as the Deputy of the Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance in USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance for six months. Before returning to Washington, she served for a year as the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission to the US Embassy in Jamaica.

Ms. Barry has been working in international development for over 30 years. As a career member of the Foreign Service, she has held various leadership positions throughout USAID. She served as USAID Mission Director to Jamaica responsible for the overall direction of programs that cut across a range of sectors, including citizen security, environment and health. Other assignments include serving in the Regional Development Mission for Asia (RDMA) in Bangkok overseeing a diverse portfolio aimed at narrowing the development gap in Southeast Asia, including programs in security, disaster management, human rights, trade, food security and local capacity development. In addition, Maura served in Afghanistan as the Deputy Office Director for USAID’s Office of Democracy and Governance, and as USAID East Africa’s Office Director for Somalia. In addition to her years with USAID, Maura worked for the United Nations Development Program and with CARE International. She holds an MPA in Public and Non-profit Management from New York University and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya.