Dr. Maura O’Neill is the Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development. In the public, private, and academic sectors, Maura has focused on sustainable energy development as well as entrepreneurship and innovation. Before coming to USAID, she served as a Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor in the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as Chief of Staff for U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell. Maura has started four companies in the energy, education, and high technology areas and was named the Greater Seattle Business Person of the Year in 1989. She has received MBA’s from both Columbia University and University of California at Berkeley and serves on the faculty Berkeley. Maura also completed her PhD at the University of Washington where her discovery research was on how narrow-mindedness occurs and the errors it leads to in decision making.

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